A Long Way From Home
by JantoFan
Summary: Sequel to 'The Rift', so you might wanna read that first. The Rift opens again...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Torchwood and probably never will.**

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"Toshiko, Martha; what's your status?" Jack barked into the comm. Toshiko's voice came back to him, breathless. She was running.

"We're in pursuit of two of the creatures. We should be able to bring them in, but there's still one out there."

"Gwen? Ianto?" he turned his attention to the other two members of his team.

"We were after it, Jack, but it got away. And…I lost Ianto."

"What?!" Jack could hear that Gwen was upset, and with good reason – those things were born killers, natures answer to the problem of over population. Jack opened up a private connection between his comms and Ianto's. "Ianto?" he got nothing but silence. "Ianto?!"

"Sorry, Jack. I'm here." Jack almost passed out with relief, then was instantly annoyed with himself. He couldn't allow himself to get too close to the Welshman, couldn't let himself care too much…

"Damnit, Yan, what happened?"

"I got it, Jack. It's out cold; I'm taking it to the SUV now."

"Good. Tell Gwen you're ok, she sounded worried sick." _She wasn't the only one. _He thought angrily. He was very aware that if it had been Gwen, or Toshiko, or even Martha who had got lost, he wouldn't have felt the same way he did now; all shaky, as though some huge disaster had been averted.

* * *

Half an hour later, they were all grouped back at the Hub. Ianto had taken the three creatures down to the cells, where they would be kept until they decided what to do with them. Martha was busy patching up Toshiko's arm; she'd received a pretty nasty scratch.

"There! All done, you'll live."

"Thanks Martha."

Jack watched as the young doctor smiled and walked over to Owen's desk…_No, damnit, to __**her**__ desk…_ Jack mentally shook himself, biting his lip. It had been 4 months since Owen had died, and he still kept thinking about him. It had never been like this before; he'd always been able to move on. It was probably, he reasoned, because he couldn't actually remember it happening. All he had was a blank. Another three weeks to add to the list of times he had no memory of.

He was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of the Rift alarm. He hurried over to Tosh's desk to see what was up. He didn't want to have to handle this; two Rift alerts in the space of 3 hours was really too much…

By the time he got there, however, the alarm had stopped. "What happened?" he asked Toshiko, puzzled.

Her fingers typed rapidly at the keyboard. "I have no idea. There was a huge surge in Rift activity, but it stopped before I could trace a source."

"That can't be good." Gwen said. Jack jumped, he hadn't realised she was so close to his shoulder.

"Oh, I don't know." Toshiko muttered. "I don't know that it could have been anything big coming through, it didn't last long enough."

"Well, keep an eye out, Tosh. Any weird sightings of anything let us know."

"Will do."

* * *

"You had me worried earlier." Jack murmured into Ianto's ear. He had sent the rest of the team home so it was just he and Ianto. Just the way he liked it.

"Sorry." Ianto leaned his head onto Jack's shoulder. "I didn't really think."

"I don't know what I'd have done if it had hurt you."

Ianto smiled.

"Of course, I was very worried. I think it's only fair that I should punish you…"

Ianto stiffened and pulled away, a very pissed-off expression on his face. "Why do you always do that?"

"What?"

"We're getting along great, you say something really sweet, and then you have to make it all about sex! You make me feel bloody cheap sometimes Jack Harkness."

Jack was about to retort when the door rolled open and Gwen walked in. she froze at the sight of the two men sat together on the couch.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"No." Ianto said firmly, pointedly avoiding looking at Jack.

"Oh, well, I've just been on the phone to Andy. They've had a young girl come into the station, and apparently she doesn't exist."

"Huh?"

"No birth certificate, no job references, the phone numbers she's given them are non existent…"

"So? Maybe she's just making it up, or got amnesia. It's hardly something Torchwood needs to get involved with, Gwen."

"Yes, but what if she's what came through the Rift?"

"A human girl? Unlikely."

"But possible. Come on, Jack, you might as well check it out. It won't take that long."

Jack groaned and looked over at Ianto. Well, their evening had been ruined already. "Sure, ok. Ianto, you'd better come as well, at least then I've got an ally in that place.

* * *

Jack considered the girl from behind the one-way mirror of the interrogation room. She looked human; Jack couldn't believe she was anything Torchwood should be investigating. He was going to have Gwen make up for this.

"Ok Gwen, if you think she's hiding something, you and Ianto go in and talk to her."

"Why do I need Ianto?"

"I dunno, good cop/bad cop?"

Ianto grimaced. He could tell that the only reason Jack wanted him to go in there was so he could avoid being alone with him. He supposed he had over-reacted slightly earlier.

Jack watched as they went in. the girl turned her head as the door opened, and smiled weakly at Gwen. She was rather pretty, Jack thought. Slim, with long blonde hair, and the most amazing green eyes. The young girl turned to face Ianto, and her mouth dropped open in shock. She stared at him for a few seconds, and then her face was illuminated by what was quite possibly the widest smile Jack had ever seen. She somehow managed to display all her teeth without looking like a fool. Then she spoke.

"Ianto?!"


	2. Chapter 2

Jack's eyes widened at the tone of the girl's voice when she said his young lover's name. _Ianto?! _It was so happy and disbelieving, as though she'd waited her entire life to find him. Ianto shot a nervous glace towards the mirror he was standing behind, and Jack felt a sudden absurd pang of jealousy. Who was she? Friend? Ex-girlfriend? **Current **girlfriend?

"I'm sorry, have we met?" Ianto asked nervously.

The grin froze slightly on her face, and she looked slightly confused. "Yan? Ianto, it's me!"

"Strangely, that doesn't actually help."

"Ianto Jones? Torchwood, yeah?"

"How did you…?"

"You lived with me for nearly 3 months, how can you not remember?"

_What?! They lived together?? _Why the hell hadn't Ianto ever mentioned? Jack had always just sort of assumed that Lisa was his first serious relationship… hold on. Ianto had told him that he was with Lisa for 5 years. And Ianto had only been 23 when she died. That meant he would have been living with this girl when he was 17! Or maybe after Lisa, when he was supposed to be with Jack…

"Ianto is Jack here?" he heard the young girl ask. All the jealous thoughts instantly evaporated from his mind. She knew **him**?

"How do you know Jack? Or Ianto?" Gwen asked, desperately trying to keep up with what was going on. The girl frowned at her, and then laughed. "Gwen! Oh my God, it's Gwen Cooper, isn't it? Fantastic!"

Much as people tended to like her, Gwen had never gotten that reaction before, and it unnerved her. "Do you know me?"

"Nope!" she grinned happily, and Gwen shot Ianto nervous look. Jack felt this would be a good time to make an entrance.

"Miss…?"

"Jack! It's me, it's Kitty!"

Jack exchanged a confused look with Ianto, which did not go unnoticed by Kitty. Her mouth dropped open in a sudden 'O' of understanding.

"You really don't remember, do you? Any of it? What happened, was it something to do with Torchwood?"

"How do you know about Torchwood?"

"Please, I know all of this. I know about you three, and Torchwood, and the Doctor, and aliens. All of it."

Jack was seriously alarmed now. "Who are you?"

"Kitty Hadley. You both stayed with me when you ended up in my world. When you fell through the Rift."

* * *

Jack felt strangely apprehensive as he led Kitty through the tourist office and into the Hub. Ideally, he would have liked her to be unconscious, but he didn't want to hurt her; she was only 20.

When the cog door rolled back and they stepped through, Jack glanced over at her face to see her reaction. He had seen all sorts; surprise, fear, shock, denial…what he had never seen anyone do, however, was look around at everything and give a small, excited laugh.

"Oh, it's just the same! Where's Myfanway? Can I see her?"

"Um…no."

They led her into the boardroom and shut the door, leaving Gwen looking in at them curiously. Ianto sat down opposite Kitty, and Jack stood at the head of the table.

"You claim you know us? We stayed with you?"

"Yeah. You were in my world for nearly 3 months…"

"We were only gone 24 hours."

"Well I don't know how it works, do I? What about Jonah, he was gone 7 months but he'd aged about 40 years."

"How do you know about him?"

She sighed. "Do I have to keep going over this? Look, guys, this is gonna come as shock to you. Again. In my world Torchwood is…um…well, its fiction. You're all portrayed by actors in a TV show."

"A TV show. And this would be called…?"

"Torchwood! Duh!"

Ianto frowned suddenly, as though he had a headache.

"Right, so we're on TV. And we knew this?"

"Yeah, when you came you were halfway through series 2. I…"

She broke off as the boardroom door swung open and Toshiko stepped in. "Sorry to interrupt, Jack, but we've got a new piece of alien tech and I really don't know what I should do with it…"

"Can it not wait five minutes, Tosh?!"

"Sorry. I just wondered…never mind." Toshiko left, a small blush rising up her cheeks.

Kitty stared after her, open mouthed. "Tosh? As in Toshiko Sato?!"

Jack and Ianto stared in surprise at the young girl. "Yes…"

"But…but she…she's alive!"

"Well noticed."

"No, but…but she isn't supposed to…you saved her!"

Jack blinked, shocked. Toshiko had told him how he'd shot Gray in order to prevent him from shooting her, but how the hell did Kitty know that? "Yes, but how did you…?"

"From the TV show! You must remember, you came through, and then me and my boyfriend…"

"James?" said Ianto suddenly.

Kitty and Jack both stared at him. She grinned. "Yes! Yes, James! Do you remember anything else?!"

"Ianto?" Ianto looked at Jack to see him gazing at him, curiously. "Ianto, is she telling the truth? Do you remember something?"

Ianto frowned. "I remember…James. And…people. People who looked like us… umm, 'Exit wounds'? Is that a thing?"

"Yes!" Kitty looked excited now. "Yes! That's one of the episodes, the last one, with Gray in it!" suddenly she slapped her forehead. "God, I'm such a bloody blonde sometimes. Pass me my bag." Ianto obliged. Kitty rummaged around for a while, pulling out a wallet. She selected a photograph and handed it to Ianto. It showed Kitty, Ianto, Jack, and some tall guy with messy hair – James, Ianto supposed – standing grinning together outside a scummy looking flat. Only, in the picture Ianto was wearing…

He glanced instinctively down at his left hand, as if he could be wearing an engagement ring without noticing. He walked round the table to stand by Kitty, making sure Jack didn't see the picture. "What's with that?" he asked, pointing to the gold band just visible on his finger.

"Oh! You don't remember that either? How depressing! He asked you. The day before you stepped into the Rift. You joked that you thought maybe you should get a sex change to keep me happy, I kept trying to buy you one for a woman…" she smiled at the memory. And suddenly, in a burst of understanding that made him gasp in pain, Ianto remembered everything.

Jack loved him.

He and Jack had planned to get married.

They had saved that man from the night travellers.

They had saved Toshiko.

And Owen…Owen…oh God, Owen was their fault…

He looked up at Kitty, tears in his eyes. "We didn't save Owen." He said, anguished, tears forming in his eyes. Kitty gasped, putting her hand on his in an attempt to comfort him.

Jack looked startled. "Owen? How could we have saved him, don't be stupid Ianto…"

"But we knew, Jack! We knew what would happen! We knew exactly how and when Owen would die, and we didn't save him…!"

It was only then, a fraction too late, that Ianto realised Toshiko had entered the room again, and was standing right behind him, listening to every word.

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Go on; press that little button down in the corner. Y'all know you want to… ;)

**Also, I can't remember if I gave Kitty a surname in my last fic. If I did, I've probably just given her another one, so, sorry if I have! Lol.**


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean?" Toshiko asked quietly.

"Toshiko, I…"

"What. Do you mean. 'you knew'?!" she said again, tears in her eyes and her voice becoming harder and louder with every word.

"I am so, so sorry. Tosh…"

"You didn't save him. You knew, and you didn't save him?!" she faced Jack, who was looking increasingly confused. "What's this, some of your precious 'paradox' theories?"

"Huh?"

"Because that shouldn't matter! It was Owen!"

Ianto stepped towards her. "Toshiko we tried, we really did…"

"Don't act like it was nothing!" she threw herself at Ianto, and Jack quickly sprinted round the table and grabbed her, before she did any serious damage to the Welshman. "Get off me, Jack! You're both just sick!"

"Will someone please tell me what I'm supposed to have done?! How the hell can we have known about Owen?! And how the hell does **she**," he pointed at Kitty, "come into all this?"

At that moment Gwen came bursting in, apparently alerted by the shouting. She surveyed the scene: Ianto with tears running down his face, gazing at Tosh like he owed her the world; Jack restraining Toshiko, who was crying worse than Gwen had ever seen her; and Kitty stood to one side, eyes wide, hands clamped over her mouth. "What the hell is going on here?" she asked, and everyone turned to look at her.

"They killed Owen…" Toshiko muttered, seemingly more to herself than to Gwen.

"What do you mean, Tosh? No they didn't, it was the power station…"

"They knew. They knew when and how it would happen, and they didn't save him. They might as well have killed him themselves."

Gwen stared incredulously at Jack. "Well? What's going on?"

"I have no idea. Ianto?"

"We…we went somewhere. Through the Rift. We saw what would happen; everything from the Night travellers through to…to Owen's…death…"

Gwen raised a hand to her face. "You didn't try and stop it? How could you be so…so…?"

Kitty stepped forwards suddenly. "Of course they tried to stop it! Bloody hell, Jack watched those DVDs so many times he probably knew the story better than the writers!"

"DVDs?"

"I'll explain later. The point is that they did change it."

"How?" Toshiko spat. "Owen's still dead, isn't he?!"

"Yes, and you're not."

Everyone froze and looked at her. Even Toshiko stopped struggling against Jack's grip.

"What do you mean 'She's not'? Why do you say it like that?" Jack asked.

"Because she died. In the version of events foretold – wait, do I mean foretold? That makes it sound all weird and mystical. Which it so isn't…um…ok – in the version shown in my world; Toshiko died. Gray buried Jack, came back to the Hub, and shot Toshiko. She died in Jack's arms, because you didn't find her in time."

Jack turned to look at Ianto, as if hoping he would come up with something more plausible. He couldn't meet his eye. "She died?"

"Yes. You…you changed things. Made it 106 years instead of 107. Came back just in time to shoot Gray yourself, instead of letting him shoot Toshiko."

"Made what 106 years? Damnit, will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Jack cried, exasperated.

Kitty sighed heavily. "You'd better call Martha in." she said to Ianto. "Coz there is no way I'm going over this a third time later."

* * *

"Oh my God…" Toshiko was looking at Kitty as though she was some horrific alien. She had just finished recounting everything about how Torchwood was a TV series in her world, and about how things had gone down differently in 'her version'.

"Hold on, wait." Jack still didn't quite grasp this. "You're telling me I was buried for nearly 2000 years?"

"Yup."

"And I don't remember that."

"Well, you retconned yourselves, didn't you?"

"So I took enough retcon to wipe out nearly 2000 years?! That would have left me damn near brain dead!"

She considered. "Maybe it did. You heal fast with cuts and stuff; maybe it's the same for brain function? Maybe you cant be unhealthy, I mean, that would explain how you managed to stay sane after nearly 2000 years of choking to death every 3 minutes, wouldn't it?"

Jack looked at Ianto. "And you remember all this?"

"Not exactly. Bits and pieces. Most of it, actually."

"And you concur with what she's saying?"

"Yeah."

"How the hell do I not remember this?!"

Gwen interrupted. "So, what else did they change then?"

Kitty looked over at her. "I must say, you're taking this better than I expected."

Gwen snorted. "Well, its bullshit, isn't it?"

"What?"

She looked around at the others for support. "I mean, come on! I've seen some pretty unbelievable things, but a parallel world where we're all portrayed by actors on a TV show? That's a bit of a stretch, even for me! She must be psycho or something!"

Kitty frowned at her. "You know, I'm beginning to remember why I don't like you."

"You don't know me!" Gwen turned to Jack. "Come on, you can't seriously believe all this, can you?"

He looked between Gwen, Kitty and Ianto, confusion evident on his face. "I just don't know. I mean, it's unbelievable sure, but Ianto says he remembers…"

"Well she must have…I dunno brainwashed him or something." Gwen looked over at Toshiko. "Tosh, babe, you can't seriously be buying this!"

"I…I don't know what…" Toshiko looked around desperately. Part of her was desperate for it to be true; that Owen's death had been pre-ordained by another universe meaning it wasn't her fault. But the more rational part was telling her it was too weird.

Ianto spoke up suddenly, his voice tinged with annoyance. "Gwen; whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. This happened. How; I don't know, but it did."

"Hold on. Assuming this is true; what's she doing here?" Martha asked, looking across at Kitty.

Ianto looked thoughtful. "I don't know. Luck?"

"Ianto, no offence, but you said you travelled across the rift landing in a world that depicts ours on television. That has got to be a one-in-a-billion chance. And now the person you lived with there has managed to end up here? If that's luck let me send this girl out to buy me a lottery ticket!"

"I'm not really buying this." Jack insisted. "Ianto; what made you remember?"

Ianto's eyes widened slightly, and he shuffled uncomfortably. "Umm…could it wait until later? I'd rather not…you know…say in front of everyone…"

"Why?" Kitty asked.

"I'd just…" Ianto looked pleadingly at her and she suddenly realised his reluctance; the trip through the Rift had changed Jack. He wasn't the same man. What if he found out about the proposal and rejected Ianto? Or worse, claimed he didn't even love him…

"Ianto! Before you tell Jack could you make me some coffee? I've been having cravings ever since you left!"

"Sure!" he shot her a grateful look. "Thank you." he mouthed quietly at her.

"You're welcome." She mouthed back. He smiled, and left the room.

Kitty looked back at the four people seated at the boardroom table. All four of them looked hostile. She sighed, unhappily. With Jack not remembering her; finding out how she got here was going to be difficult.

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Please read and review, they brighten up my day! x


	4. Chapter 4

**Argh, I'm so sorry this has taken so long to update! I am completely hopeless! Lol. I promise I'll try and update a lot quicker next time! Enjoy!**

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Ianto leaned against the worktop in the kitchen, trying to stop himself shaking. Kitty was back. That in itself, he thought, was great. He'd loved the excitable young woman (although he did wonder what she would be like when set loose in the **actual **Torchwood Hub), but she'd brought with her his memories of what had happened. Of what they should have prevented…

And his memories of Jack.

For the past four months, he had been feeling a bit…lost, when it came to his captain. As if there was something missing. Now he remembered why…he wasn't sure whether to be happy or to cry at the sudden re-emergence of his feelings. Because it wasn't the same anymore, Jack wasn't the same anymore. Ianto had begun to suspect the older man had gotten bored of him, didn't care about him any more…

"Ianto?" He spun round to see Kitty watching him. "Ianto, you ok?"

"What do you think?!"

"I'm sorry." She said quietly.

He sighed. "Not your fault. It's me, it's Owen, it's Jack – oh, God, it's everything."

"You're worried Jack wouldn't want you again."

"Am I that obvious?"

She grinned, a little sadly. "Kinda."

Ianto sighed. "In a way, I wish I'd never remembered that he proposed, that he loved me."

She frowned slightly, confused. "Why?"

He gave her eye contact for the first time since she'd entered the kitchen. "Because now I know what I've lost."

* * *

"Jack?"

The older man looked up at Gwen. She was watching him, nervously.

"Jack, what're we going to do about Ianto and that girl?"

"What d'you mean?"

"Well…" she looked at Toshiko and Martha for support, "I mean, she can't be telling the truth. You'd remember. And you'd have told us after you fell through the Rift if that had happened, right?"

Jack looked at her, thinking. Would he have told them? If he and Ianto had truly known that Owen and Tosh would die…would he have told them, knowing it might not be able to be changed?

He really wasn't sure.

He opened his mouth to answer Gwen, but was cut off by the return of Ianto and Kitty, and the coffee.

He took a sip and instantly felt himself relax slightly. Damn, Ianto's coffee was good.

"So, anyone else want to question me?" asked Kitty after a few moments, looking round at the group. Jack considered her for a long moment.

"You say you're from a parallel world, which runs a few months ahead of ours."

"Yep."

"So, what else can you tell us. You know what will happen to us?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "I do know what happens, in my world, but…I don't know, it might be different. The smallest thing can change the future and I'm guessing Toshiko being alive when she wasn't before is a pretty damn huge thing. So none of it might happen now anyway." She thought for a minute, trying to come up with some sort of example. "Like if, for example, Rose had died back in the London blitz…"

Jack started slightly at the name.

"…then you would never have gone with The Doctor, which would mean you'd never have ended up on satellite 5, which would mean you wouldn't have become immortal or come to Earth in this time period and run Torchwood, which would mean Abadon wouldn't have been stopped coz there would be no immortals here to stop him. You see? One tiny difference would have had a huge affect on the way the world is now."

Jack looked over at Ianto and blinked in surprise to realise the younger man had been watching him. Ianto blushed slightly when Jack caught his eye. "Ianto, do you remember what's coming?"

"I…I saw the trailer, but that wasn't everything…I'm not telling you what it was."

"Why not?" Gwen asked. He looked at her.

"Because if nothing's changed, I don't want to be responsible for you knowing what's coming." He shuddered slightly. "You have no idea how horrific that is."

"And you do?" Gwen said quietly, not really intending Ianto to hear. Ianto glared at her. Gwen shifted nervously and turned bright red when she realised he had heard her.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Jack sat alone in his office. He'd sent the rest of the team home, and Ianto had insisted on Kitty staying with him. Jack sighed when he thought about the younger man. Since he'd remembered their time in the Rift (assuming it was true), he'd been acting…strange towards him. And Jack wasn't sure what was going on. Sure, they'd had a fight the night before, but it wasn't like that. Ianto didn't seem mad, but more sort of…distant.

"Jack?"

He looked up quickly and saw Ianto standing in the doorway, looking apprehensive. "Hey Yan."

"Look, I…I wanted to apologise. About sort of springing everything on you like that."

"Doesn't matter." Jack got up and walked over to Ianto, hugging him and breathing in the familiar scent of his lover's hair. He frowned suddenly. Was it his imagination, or had Ianto tensed in the embrace. He pulled away and looked at the Welshman, confused. "Ianto? You ok?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine."

Ianto looked into his eyes, and Jack felt as though his heart had stopped beating. Unable to stop himself, he leant down and pressed a soft, sweet kiss to his lips. Ianto kissed back, almost gratefully.

"Do you love me?" Ianto said softly. Jack froze.

"What?"

Ianto blinked, seemingly unaware he'd spoken. His eyes widened when he realised what he'd just said. "Nothing."

"You asked me if I loved you."

"Well then, you already know what I said. Why did you need to ask?" despite the casual nature of his tone, Jack could sense the nervousness and embarrassment emanating from him.

"Ianto…" Jack began, sadly.

Ianto looked up at him. "Do you?"

"Ianto please don't do this."

"I see." He blinked rapidly, his eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Have…have you ever…?"

"Please don't do this, Yan. We're happy, aren't we? Please don't make me answer that question."

"I think you just did." He said softly, voice tinged with horror, and walked quickly out of the room so Jack wouldn't see the tears he could no longer prevent from falling.

Jack stood there for a long time, tears snaking down his own face. Why did Ianto have to ask him that? Why now? Jack had told him, way back when they first began this relationship that he couldn't give his love. And he'd meant it. He couldn't love Ianto. He didn't love Ianto…

So why did his heart hurt so much at the sight of the younger man in tears?

Why was he feeling sick with fear that they might have just broken up?

And why had his first instinct, after Ianto asked him, been to gather him in his arms and say yes?

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Reviews are loved!x


	5. Chapter 5

Kitty looked up when she heard the front door slam and instantly knew something was wrong. Ianto hurried right past the living room door and into the kitchen without even pausing to say hi to her. What the hell had happened? She put down her magazine and walked into the kitchen to see Ianto with his back to her leaning against the worktop.

"Ianto?" when he didn't respond, she stepped forwards and laid her hand gently on his shoulder. "Ianto? What's wrong, what happened?"

"He doesn't love me." Ianto said quietly.

There was a pause. "Huh?"

"Jack. He…he doesn't love me." Ianto turned and Kitty could see he'd been crying. "I went to see him at the Hub and he kissed me and I…oh, God, I didn't mean to ask him I really didn't…I asked him if he loved me…"

"And he said no?!" Kitty was appalled.

"He begged me not to make him answer me, said we were happy how we are now…"

"Oh Ianto…" Kitty hugged him and he instantly laid his head on her shoulder, chest heaving with the effort not to start crying again.

"I don't know why it's so much of a shock really; I mean…I felt he was getting…bored of me, but I…that was before I…why did I have to remember?"

"I'm so sorry, Ianto. So…um…what did you say? After he begged you not to make him answer?"

"I left. I just ran out. Oh God, what if he thinks we broke up?"

"Do you want to break up?"

"No! Maybe…I don't know! I want Jack back, _my _Jack, from when we were in your world…"

Kitty didn't know what to say, how to comfort him. "You should get some sleep, Yan. You can talk to Jack properly in the morning."

* * *

Jack sat at his desk nervously twiddling his fingers. He was never usually a fidgeter, but he felt so nervous about seeing Ianto. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened last night, why Ianto had suddenly started talking about love, but he knew that wasn't a road he wanted to go down…did he?

"Coffee, sir?"

Jack's head jerked up in surprise; he hadn't even been aware Ianto was in work yet. "Yeah, that'd be good. Look, Ianto, about last night…"

"One coffee coming up!" Ianto practically ran out of the room, leaving Jack feeling somehow even worse than before. He waited for Ianto to return with the drink, determined that once he did he would talk to him. Sort this out. About whether or not they were still…whatever they were.

However, when the door opened he looked up and it was Gwen carrying the steaming mug of coffee. She smiled apologetically at Jack as she placed it on the desk.

"Don't worry, I didn't make it. Ianto asked me to bring it up. Have…have you two had a fight or something?"

"Not exactly."

"Well then what…?"

"Could you just leave it Gwen?! Please."

"Ok, sorry!" eyes wide, she walked out of the office. Jack groaned. He was going to have to apologise to her now, he could tell he shouldn't have snapped like that. But the truth was; he _didn't _know what was going on with Ianto. It wasn't like people had never asked him if he loved them before. Estelle, Greg, Steven, Gwyneth, Marie…hell, he'd _married _Marie. He'd cared about all of them, of course he had, but he'd never let himself love them…he'd never found it this hard with them. Maybe because they were willing to be in a relationship where they weren't fully loved, even if they didn't understand the reason? Or because Ianto was the first person he'd been with who could even begin to know him; about when he was from, where he was from, the fact he would live forever…

Or maybe because he…

"Jack?"

He looked up sharply to see Martha standing in the doorway. He sighed. "Hey, Martha."

"Listen, what do you want me to do with that Kitty person? None of us can really babysit; we've got work to do…"

"Does she need babysitting?"

"I don't know. Does she? Do we trust her yet?"

"Put her in one of the cells. Ianto can let her out when he goes home."

"You do realise, if we lock her in a cell, Ianto will come up here and probably kill you right?"

"At least then he'd talk to me…"

"What?"

"Doesn't matter."

He half expected Martha to press the issue, but she simply nodded and left the room. Obviously Gwen had warned her not to push the 'Ianto' issue.

* * *

By that evening Jack was feeling incredibly fed up and anxious. To his disappointment, Ianto had not come up to yell at him for putting Kitty in a cell (apparently, the young woman had loved it; asking Martha if she could be put in a cell facing Janet. Jack felt he would never understand how some people's minds worked). And Toshiko still wasn't talking to him. She wasn't really talking to anyone, just sort of drifting about the Hub. The idea that he and Ianto might somehow be to blame for Owen's death seemed to have broken her once more.

He waved vaguely when Gwen and Martha said goodnight, tried to say goodbye to Toshiko but she ignored him.

"Jack?"

"Ianto!" Jack stood up quickly, as though afraid the young man would disappear.

"I just came to let you know Kitty's out of the cell and on her way to mine. I've just got a few bits of filing to finish then I'll be gone as well."

"Ianto…"

"Don't." the young man said quietly. "I just need to grab that folder on your desk."

"This one?" Jack asked, picking it up.

"Yes. Could you pass it here, please?"

Jack looked at him for a moment. "Come and get it."

Ianto paused, uncertainly, and then stepped forwards and made a grab for the file. Jack lifted it out of his reach. "Jack…"

"What? You want the file, take it."

A ghost of a smile flitted over Ianto's face and he made another swipe for the folder. Again, Jack lifted it out of the way; but this time Ianto started tickling him mercilessly on the ribs. Jack instantly bent over, trying to get away from the younger man; laughing. He was incredibly ticklish.

The two men struggled against each other for a few seconds, both of them laughing. Jack made a desperate bid to squirm away from Ianto but ended up tripping, pulling the younger man down on top of him. They lay there for a while, both of them practically crying with laughter; Ianto with his face buried in Jack's shirt. For a few moments Jack felt completely…right.

Then Ianto lifted his head and locked eye contact, and suddenly things weren't so funny anymore. Jack lifted his hand and laid it softly on the younger man's cheek; and Ianto closed his eyes slightly and leant into the touch. Jack lifted his head a fraction and captured Ianto's lips in a soft kiss, moaning softly when Ianto licked his lips tenderly and opened his mouth to allow him entrance. The kiss was soft and sweet and full of…what, exactly? Affection?

Suddenly, Ianto broke the kiss and stared into his eyes for a few seconds. "I…have to go." He mumbled, making to stand up. Jack grabbed his arm.

"Ianto, don't go. I…I _care_ about you, I do, I…" he broke off, unsure how to finish that sentence.

"I know you do, Jack." Ianto said softly, freeing his arm and standing up. "But it's not the same."

_Not the same as what?_ Jack wondered, but Ianto had already fled the office; the file he'd gone in to collect lying forgotten on the floor beside Jack.

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Argh! More Jack/Ianto angst! Please don't hate me! Lol.

**Reviews make me happy! Love xx**


	6. Chapter 6

"_It's beautiful."_

_Jack looked across at the younger man as they sat together on the high roof. "Ianto, it's not like you haven't seen it before," he pointed out, amused, "we were up here after our third date."_

_Ianto grinned at him. "True, but that was different. That was before, when we were still at home." He gestured over the city. "That's a whole knew world!"_

_Jack decided to take this as a cue to start singing the song from Aladdin. Badly. Ianto burst out laughing. "Stop it! I can't bear that racket!"_

_Jack grinned playfully and carried on singing loudly, so Ianto did the only thing he could think of to get the older man to shut up and kissed him passionately on the mouth. Just as Jack's hands began to wonder to interesting places, Ianto's mobile rang. Jack groaned into his lover's mouth._

"_What does she want this time?"_

"_I don't know." He dug into his pocket and retrieved the phone._

"_Honestly, I don't know why she doesn't have enough to keep her occupied spending time with James; I swear she's never let 5 hours go past without ringing!"_

_Ianto laughed. "Aww, are you getting frustrated, Jack?" he asked teasingly. Jack leant forwards and ran a tongue over Ianto's ear._

"_You have no idea." He growled softly, making Ianto shiver._

_Ianto looked at him, before hanging up the phone and kissing him again. "I love you, so much."_

_**I love you…**_

* * *

Jack awoke with a start, peering at the space beside him on the bed. His heart lurched slightly when he saw it was empty and he remembered what had happened with Ianto… he frowned suddenly, thinking about his dream. He had a nagging feeling it was important somehow, that it proved something or meant something, but the more he tried to remember it the faster it slipped away, until all he could remember was that it had something to do with Ianto, and a roof.

* * *

Ianto glanced nervously up at Jack's office as he entered the Hub. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid the night before, he was supposed to be trying to move on from Jack, not kissing him on the floor of his office!

Moving on…easier said than done.

When he'd told Kitty what had happened, she'd said all the right things, been sympathetic and understanding; but Ianto could see in her face she thought he was being an idiot.

When it came to relationships; his mum had always taught him to follow his heart. It had worked when he asked Lisa out even though everyone thought she was out of his league. But this time he knew he had to listen to his head. His heart was telling him to be with Jack, but he knew he would just end up getting hurt.

Because Jack didn't love him.

To his horror, Ianto felt his eyes well up slightly and he hurriedly wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

"Ianto? You ok?" Gwen asked, concerned.

Damn. Not fast enough.

He turned, attempting a smile. "I'm fine Gwen. Would you like a coffee?"

"Uh, sure." She looked at him with her head tilted on its side slightly, like she was studying him. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine. Not that it's any of your concern!" He quickly walked away before Gwen could start asking about Jack, and joined Kitty next to the coffee machine.

"She was only trying to help!" Kitty told him, quietly.

"I know. But still, I don't ask about her and Rhys do I?!"

"Maybe not, but you being rude just proves there is something wrong. Try and calm down a bit, yeah?"

He smiled. "Calm. Yes, that's going to be so easy with Jack just up there." He looked up to the office again. At that moment, Jack walked out and stared at him. Ianto felt his breath catch in his throat.

After about 10 seconds, Jack broke the contact and looked around at the others. "Team meeting. Boardroom. Now." He looked at Kitty. "You too." With that he turned and walked into the boardroom.

Kitty turned to Ianto. "What's the betting this is gonna be another huge grilling session trying to make me slip up and confess to being an alien or something?"

Ianto chuckled. "If it isn't I'll eat the coffee machine!"

* * *

"So tell us again how you came here?"

Kitty rolled her eyes and looked at Ianto. "Jack. I have been over this a dozen times. I was coming home from work and the Rift got me."

"And where do you work?"

"A shop on the high street. Jack, you _know_ this!"

Something began to itch at the back of Jack's brain. There was something he was missing here, something important. It felt as though someone had just told him his coat wasn't grey at all, he'd just been looking at it wrong.

"So far you only have Ianto to back up that claim!"

Martha spoke up. "Jack, come on, she's stuck to her story. She looks pretty genuine to me. Why won't you just try and accept it? From what I've seen of retcon, you're probably hampering your chances of recall by refusing to believe!"

Jack glared at her. He knew he was being stupid, but he didn't need his team pointing it out to him. If he was honest with himself; a part of him actually believed this could all be true. He was just reluctant to believe what she said had happened. "And if she's lying? I could be letting people get hurt…"

Ianto snorted and Jack turned to stare at him. "Ianto?"

He looked up. "People getting hurt. Because Kitty's obviously so much of a threat, isn't she?"

Kitty looked at Ianto wide eyed and shook her head. _Don't do this Ianto. Don't make the situation worse…_

"Has she done anything threatening? No! Has she given any reason for you to doubt her? No! So why cant you just…"

"You changed since she got here!" Jack burst out angrily. Ianto froze.

"Oh. So this is about me, is it? People change, Jack, it's called being human. You should know that better than anyone…"

"Ianto, I'm just telling you not to trust her so much…"

"No, Jack! Don't tell me how to live my life; you've already made it perfectly clear you don't want to be a permanent fixture in it!"

"I never said that…"

"I asked you if you loved me and you said no. seemed pretty clear to me."

Jack reached out a hand to comfort Ianto, but the younger man threw him off. "Don't touch me, Jack! You're nothing more to me than my boss!" And with that, he stormed out of the boardroom. Jack stood for a moment staring after him, then seemed to bring himself back to reality and gazed at the table. Everyone was staring at him. He shook his head, embarrassed. "Martha Jones! What say you take Kitty and give her a look over? I want the works; x-ray, MRI, blood tests…"

"Blood tests?!" everyone looked over at Kitty, who had gone deathly pale. "I don't want a blood test!"

"Why not?"

"I…I have this thing about needles. I can't; I can't have a blood test!"

Jack stared at her. She was trembling slightly. "How about if Ianto's with you?"

"No."

Martha got up and walked around to her, laying a hand comfortingly on the younger woman's arm. "Kitty, we need to do this. If we're going to prove you're human we need bloods."

"I can't." She whispered. Jack frowned. He had seen enough people to be able to read moods, and despite whatever reservations he may have had about her; Kitty didn't look like she was trying to avoid the tests.

She looked genuinely scared to death.

* * *

Jack gazed around the plant room, loving how relaxed it made him feel. They had managed to calm Kitty down enough for her to consent to all other tests (but still nothing to do with needles), and Martha had told him that she should have results by the following morning. He supposed everything would be fine until then. He looked round when the door opened and saw Ianto standing there looking awkward.

"Yan…"

"I'm sorry, Jack."

He blinked. "What for?"

"Yelling at you in the boardroom. I honestly don't know why I got that worked up over it, it was stupid."

"It's ok Ianto." Jack walked towards the younger man and put a hand on his cheek. He felt hurt when Ianto stepped back; away from his reach. "Yan?"

"I can't Jack. I meant what I said. We can't have any sort of relationship more than employer-employee."

Jack felt like his world had split. "Why not?"

"Because it hurts, Jack." He smiled, a little sadly. "It hurts, and you don't even know why."

"Is it because of what you say happened in Kitty's world?" Ianto's silence told him that it was, "because if you just tell me, maybe I can…"

"You don't believe it happened Jack, so what's the point?" Ianto swallowed. "If you don't remember, then I…I wont remind you. Please don't try and change my mind, Jack, this is the best way to cause the least hurt." he turned and walked out of the room. Then he poked his head back round the door. "I forgive you by the way."

"What for?"

"The retcon. It was your idea."

Jack frowned in confusion as Ianto left again. His idea? Surely he wouldn't do anything so stupid? Would he?

* * *

"Kitty? You awake?"

Kitty lifted her head sleepily off her pillow and blinked at Ianto. "Uhh…yeah. Sure. Come on in." she yawned.

"How are you? After all the tests?"

"I'm fine. It was just x-rays and stuff. No needles." She shuddered. "Anyway, I'm guessing you didn't come in here to talk about me?"

He shook his head.

"Jack?"

"I…I broke up with him. Permanently."

"Oh, Ianto…"

"I couldn't do it, Kitty. I couldn't wait around for him to _maybe _fall in love with me _some day_. Not when I know what we used to have."

"Are you sure that's what you want?"

"No. what I want is my Jack to come back to me. For him to remember what we had. But that isn't going to happen, so I'm left with this."

"Come here." She hugged him, and he sobbed against her shoulder. "Hey, why don't you just tell him? It might help him remember."

He sniffed. "Because he doesn't love me. He should be able to remember on his own…"

"Aww, Ianto…" she lay down and he followed suit, clutching her like she was his security blanket. "It'll be ok, Ianto, I promise. I'll help you get through this, yeah?"

But Ianto didn't respond. He'd already fallen asleep, immersed in dreams about him and Jack, when they were happy.

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Still angsty! You know you love it. I promise all hope is not lost for Janto! I wouldn't do that! You will have to wait until tomorrow (or possibly Saturday) when I post the next update though… mwahahaha….etc.

**Cookies for reviews!x**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok, i've actually had the bare bones for this chapter written for quite a while now, so it's nice to finally be able to post it! Hope you like :D**

**Also, i have no idea how accurate the latin is in this chapter, i used an online translator. So if anyone speaks latin and it's wrong, that's why.**

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Jack sat in his office, attempting to finish some paperwork.

It wasn't going well.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't draw his minds focus away from Ianto. He suddenly let out a bellow of rage and flung the folders onto the floor, resting his forehead against the desk, allowing the chilled wood to help cool his anger. Why had he been so stupid?

He couldn't deny it anymore.

He had fallen in love with Ianto.

He didn't want to be in love with Ianto! The _only _possible conclusion to any sort of serious relationship between them would be both of them getting hurt. But it hurt now, now he and Ianto had broken up…

He lifted his head up and surveyed the folders and paper now strewn all over the floor. He groaned softly. Maybe he should just fire Ianto? Get him out of the Hub and out of his life? It was the only way to ensure the least hurt…

But just the thought of Ianto not being there made Jack's heart ache. He couldn't fire Ianto, he just couldn't…

Sighing, he got up and gathered all the files together, placing them on his desk. He extracted the few 'confidential' folders from the mess. The rest could wait until morning. Sighing, Jack opened his safe and tucked the folders back into their space. However, sleep deprivation made him clumsy, and he knocked one of the large boxes out. This promptly landed on his foot. "FUCK!" he yelled. It was bloody heavy! Wincing slightly, Jack bent down and scooped up the large box, intending to put it back in. His attention was caught, however, by a glint of gold behind where it had stood. Frowning, he returned the box to the floor and took it out.

A ring.

Warily, because he had no idea where it had come from, Jack studied the small object. How had it got into his safe? He turned it over in his hand a few times. After a few minutes, he realised there was an inscription inside. Squinting to try and read the tiny lettering in the dim light of his office, Jack read.

"_Meus amor vobis mos numquam abeo_" he frowned. His Latin was a little rusty. "Meus amor…Meus…my love for you…numquam…numquam…will….my love for you will never die." He blinked. "Sweet."

Although, what the hell was Ianto's engagement ring doing at the back of his safe? He had no memory of why he would have put it there. The ring must have been there a while, he supposed, because there was dust at the back of the safe where it had stood, and there was a definite ring of clean surface amongst it. Jack frowned as he realised this. That safe was supposed to be airtight; it wasn't supposed to let dust in! Maybe the door was broken? He would have to…

…hold on. _Ianto's _engagement ring?

His head jerked up and his eyes widened as his mind was suddenly filled with images.

Ianto afraid.

Ianto comforting him.

Ianto grinning at him as he awoke from death.

Ianto laughing.

Kissing him.

Wearing the ring.

_Ianto_…

* * *

Ianto was jerked from his sleep by an incessant knocking on the door. He glanced over at his bedside clock, confused when it wasn't there. Then he realised he was still in Kitty's bed; they must have fallen asleep. Slightly embarrassed, he got up and checked the time on her watch which was on the dresser.

03:32.

_What the hell? Who the fuck is at my door at 3:30 in the bloody morning? _He wondered grumpily, stumbling out of the room to try and get rid of the mystery caller before they woke Kitty. He opened the front door and blinked blearily out.

It was Jack, looking very out of breath and slightly crazy. Ianto groaned.

"Jack, what do you want? What is so important it can't wait for a time when I'm actually awake? And at work?"

"Marry me."

"I mean I…wait, what?"

"Marry me."

Ianto swallowed uncertainly, wide awake now. "Jack, I…"

Jack fell to one knee and gazed up at the young Welshman. "Ianto Jones, I am asking you to marry me. I love you, I've always loved you. I've been a complete idiot, I should never have told you otherwise. I should never have made myself forget that…"

Ianto stared at him. "You remember when we were through the Rift?"

"No, not all of it. I don't remember watching Torchwood on DVD, or where we lived. But I remember you, and I remember us. And I remember this." He dug into his trouser pocket and pulled out the ring, holding it up to Ianto. The younger man took it.

"My love for you will never die." He murmured, running his index finger over the inscription. "You kept it?"

"It was in the safe. I must have put it there after we…after I _forced _you to…" he broke off, too ashamed to say what he'd done. They both knew, it didn't need to be said.

Ianto stared at the ring for a long moment, his facial expression giving nothing away as to what he was thinking. Jack began to feel nervous. "Ianto?"

Ianto stared down at him.

"Ianto, my knees are starting to cramp. Please don't make me ask you again. Please?"

Ianto blinked. Jack was staring up at him with a hopeful, pleading expression. He looked adorable. Ianto suddenly burst out laughing, tears of happiness shining in his eyes.

"Yes!"

Jack couldn't believe it. "Yes?"

"Yes! You are such an idiot sometimes Jack."

Grinning, Jack scrambled to his feet, taking the ring from Ianto so he could slip it onto his finger. Then he kissed him, wrapping his arms tightly around the younger man's body. They stood there for ages, arms wrapped around each other swaying slightly on the spot. Then Ianto stumbled back into the flat, pulling Jack with him, and closed the front door.

* * *

The next morning, Kitty woke up and stumbled into the kitchen. She froze. Jack was seated at the kitchen table wearing nothing but his boxers, which surprised her given her and Ianto's conversation the previous day. She raised an eyebrow questioningly at Ianto, then turned her attention back to Jack.

"I'm guessing you didn't just turn up for an impromptu breakfast in your undies?" she asked.

He grinned. "Nope. I had to return something to Ianto, and then it seemed rude not to stay."

She looked over at the younger man, who wiggled the fingers of his left hand at her to draw attention to the gold ring he now wore. Kitty gazed at it for a few seconds as her sleep addled brain caught up with what that meant. Then she let out a squeal.

"Oh my God! That's amazing! Oh, congratulations!" she flung her arms around Ianto and hugged him. Then she quickly released him. "Wait, you've showered, right?"

He laughed. "Yes, Kitty, I have showered."

"Oh. Good. Congratulations!" she squealed again, throwing her arms around his neck. When she finally released him she turned to Jack and then paused.

"Can I give you a hug too?"

"I'd be offended if you didn't!" he told her, still grinning. "Come here!" She threw her arms around his neck, and he hugged her tight. "God, Kitty, it is so good to see you again! I mean, really see you, when I know who you are."

She released him. "You know who I am? You remember?"

"Not really. I mean, I remember some stuff, like I remember Ianto," he smiled at the younger man over her shoulder, "I don't remember everything. But I remember enough about you to know that I have been unbelievably rude this past week. I never should have doubted you were telling the truth."

"Whatever, I'm over it! Oh my God, this is so amazing! You have to have the wedding before I leave; I was so _gutted _last time I wasn't going to be there! Can I help plan? Oh my God, this is so huge!"

Ianto laughed. "Kitty, calm down! We still have work; the universe doesn't stop because Jack and I are getting married!"

"Psht!" Kitty said, waving her hand impatiently; as though the idea of aliens invading when she was trying to plan a wedding was ludicrous.

* * *

Jack grinned as he watched Kitty nervously pet Myfanwy's giant beak. He knew he'd only remembered her a matter of hours ago, but the more time he spent with her the more he wondered how he could ever have forgotten her. She just seemed so…_alive_. He checked the time, and realised everyone was going to be in for work soon.

"Kitty! Ianto! Leave Myfanwy alone now, the others will be in soon! Somehow I don't think they'll like you playing with our pet until they understand what happened!"

As they walked back down the stairs to the main Hub area, Kitty was practically glowing. "I can't believe I petted Myfanwy! I petted an actual _dinosaur_! Oh my God, James is gonna totally _freak_ when I get back, oh this is BRILLIANT!"

Jack laughed and put his arm around her neck. "You have no idea how refreshing you are, you know that?"

Kitty grinned at him. "Are you going to tell the others?"

"Tell them what?"

Kitty wiggled her ring finger at him, and Jack realised what she meant. "Oh." he looked over at Ianto, who shrugged. "I dunno. I mean, we didn't last time, but…it was different."

"Well, I'm coming to the wedding this time, so they're gonna have to know before I leave!" Kitty insisted.

"So we tell them. But, I think we should try and explain what happened, ok? I need to…I've not exactly been discouraging Gwen and Toshiko's thoughts about you…" he smiled apologetically at Kitty, who raised her eyebrows.

"Why? What've they been saying?"

"It doesn't matter." Jack said hastily. Kitty grinned.

"I don't care anyway. Hey!" she threw an arm around Ianto's neck, and he put his other arm around Jack's waist so they were in a sort of three-way hug. "The old team, back together! How awesome is this?!"

She laughed happily.

"What?" they heard Gwen's voice from the doorway. She was eyeing the three of them as though worried about what she might have walked in on.

Jack and Ianto both burst out laughing.

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See? I told you I'd be nice to them!

**Reviews are awesome!**

**Love xx**


	8. Chapter 8

"Jack? What's going on?" Gwen asked, still eyeing the three of them warily.

"Gwen!" Jack extracted himself from the other two and walked over to her, eyes twinkling merrily. "Gwen, Gwen, Gwen. Might I introduce you to miss Kitty Hadley!"

Gwen looked from Jack to Kitty, then back to Jack again. "Jack – I've already met her. She's been here for a week!"

"Ah! But this time I know who I'm introducing!" Jack told her, grinning broadly. Gwen gaped at him.

"What do you mean?"

"It's true, Gwen, it's all true! Everything she's been saying, I remember it!"

Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Martha's voice from behind her.

"You remember? Oh my God!" she ran forwards and gave Jack a hug.

Jack grinned again. "Yep!"

"So do you remember Owen?" Toshiko asked, quietly. Jack almost jumped, he hadn't realised she'd come in.

"I…" he thought. He really did, he tried so hard to remember what he'd known about Owen, what he'd done to try and save him. But he couldn't. "I'm sorry, Tosh. I don't remember everything."

She nodded, looking at the floor. Jack guiltily caught Ianto's eye and the younger man nodded. Now was really not the time to be announcing their engagement, it could wait until a more appropriate…

"Oh my God! Ianto, what is that?!" Martha darted forwards and grabbed the Welshman's left hand, pulling it up to her eye level. "Is that what I think it is?!" she asked, looking over at Jack.

"What? What is it?" Gwen asked, trying to see. Martha thrust Ianto's hand at her, and she stared at the ring. "You're engaged?!"

"Umm…we weren't exactly going to say anything yet…" Jack began awkwardly.

Gwen frowned slightly. "But when did this happen? You had that massive fight yesterday; I thought it was over for good between you two?"

Ianto didn't like the tone of disappointment in Gwen's voice. Although it did make him want to laugh when he caught Kitty's eye. The younger woman had clearly picked up on it as well, and was pulling a face at Gwen's back.

"I think we should discuss this in the boardroom." Jack said, "I for one would like to be able to sit down. This may take a while."

* * *

An hour later, they were all still sat around the boardroom table, staring at Jack.

"So, let me get this straight." Gwen said, frowning. "You two wound up in her world, lived there for three months during which time you got engaged, then came back and took retcon?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because of Owen." Ianto said, "Because when we couldn't save Owen, Jack couldn't live with himself. And, like he pointed out to me, he doesn't exactly have a lot of choice in that matter."

At that moment, one of the lights began to blink and flicker above them. "Damn!" Jack muttered, glancing up, "I've been meaning to fix that."

"I'll go." Martha said, standing up. "I'm good with electrics."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Prepare for the lights to go off!" and with that, she left.

Gwen turned to Kitty. "So how did you know them? When they came through, I mean."

"I didn't. I thought they were just look-a-likes or something. It was only when my boyfriend accidentally killed Jack that we realised it was really them."

"He killed him?"

"It was an accident! Jack had a gun!" she laughed, then her face lit up as she had an idea. "Can I meet Rhys?"

"I'm sorry?!"

"Well, I really wanna know if he looks like his character…" At that moment, the lights went off, plunging them into darkness.

"Backup should kick in soon." Ianto said, calmly.

"Cool." Kitty said, turning back to Gwen.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack sat there, listening to them talk with a small smile on his face. He knew Gwen was going to have a hard time accepting this; she really did hate to be proved wrong.

Then the lights went out.

"Backup should kick in soon." He heard Ianto say. Jack opened his mouth to reply…

_Dirt. So much dirt, choking him._

_He couldn't breathe._

_Couldn't move, he was being crushed under tonnes of earth._

_Choking. Eternally choking. Couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't breathe. Couldn'tmovecouldn'tseecouldn'tbreathecouldn'tmove…_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You do look a lot like your character." Kitty told Gwen. "Your eyes are wrong though. The actresses are more sort of…Jack?"

Gwen, Ianto and Toshiko all turned to look at Jack. The older man looked like he was having some sort of seizure. His eyes were tight shut and his chest was heaving. Ianto held a hand in front of his face.

"Oh my God, he's not breathing! Jack! Jack, can you hear me?!" he gave no sign that he could. "Jack!"

"He's going to kill himself!" Gwen cried out. Ianto glared at her.

"Stating the obvious?" he turned to Kitty. "What do we do?"

"How should I know?! Jack! Jack!"

But he didn't respond, just carried on shaking and not breathing. Suddenly, Kitty gasped. "Ianto! I think he's remembering!"

"Remembering what?!"

"Being buried!"

"Oh, shit!" Ianto recoiled in horror. Remembering being buried alive for that long… "Jack?" he leant forwards, "Jack, its Ianto. You're in the Hub, you're safe, and you can breath. Jack?" he blew gently on the other man's face. Jack's eyes sprang open and he stared glassily at Ianto. "Jack? Jack, can you see me? It's Ianto."

"Can't breath." Jack croaked. "Cant breath. Can't breathe…"

"Yes you can, Jack." Ianto leant forwards and pressed his mouth against the older man's, breathing gently as though giving mouth-to-mouth. Instantly, he felt Jack start to calm down. He gave Jack a few more breaths, then withdrew his head to see if he was ok yet. Jack took a few shaky breaths, then blinked.

"Ianto?"

"I'm here!"

"What…what happened?"

"We think you were remembering being buried." Kitty said quietly.

Jack looked around at the four people in the room with him. All of them looked pale and scared. "Oh. Shit. I'm sorry, was it bad?"

"You were so scared…" Ianto said softly. Jack looked at him. At that moment, the lights flicked back on and Jack felt himself relax. He hadn't even realised he'd tensed up.

"Couldn't get us a coffee, could you Yan? I'm really thirsty."

"Sure." He smiled at him.

As Ianto turned and left, Jack shuddered involuntarily. If that was how he reacted to this memory, he wasn't sure he was looking forwards to getting back the rest.

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Pretty short I know, but the next chapter should be longer! Reviews are loved x


	9. Chapter 9

"Are you sure you're alright?" Ianto asked, helping Jack out of the car and leading him down the path to his front door.

"I'm fine, Yan."

"But are you sure? I mean, remembering being buried…shit, Jack, I can't even begin to…you're definitely ok?"

"Ianto. I swear to God if you ask me if I'm ok one more time, I'm going to take my ring back and leave."

Ianto smiled, leaning his head against Jack's shoulder. "Ok, ok, I won't ask you. But will you at least take it easy for the rest of the day?"

"Take it easy?! Ianto, I've been sitting in the medical bay all day _just in case_ I flip out again and stop breathing. I think I've already 'taken it easy'!"

"Don't argue." Ianto told him, opening the door, "Kitty's picking up food for us, there's a couple of films on the telly, I want you to relax."

Jack sighed theatrically, acting like he was annoyed. To be honest, a relaxing night in with Ianto and a movie did sound nice. Especially the fact that Ianto was there. Jack hadn't told anyone, but ever since he'd remembered the burial that morning, every time he'd closed his eyes he felt his chest constrict with panic and smelt earth pressing down on him…

Jack shook himself mentally. _Don't dwell on it, if you don't dwell you'll be ok._ He really hoped he would.

"You ok?"

Jack suddenly realised his emotions must have shown on his face. He grasped around for something to say. "Ianto, what did I just tell you about asking how I was? I did say I'd leave you, didn't I?"

Ianto grinned. "So you did. But, if you leave, where would you watch Moulin Rouge?"

Jack pretended to consider this. "I could watch it at Gwen's, but Rhys might not like it. I suppose we'll have to stay engaged just this once."

"Such a shame for you." Ianto smiled at him again and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, before snuggling up as the film started.

* * *

"Jack? Ianto?" Kitty called out as she walked into the flat an hour later, three hot pizza boxes stacked precariously on one arm. Hearing the TV going, she walked into the living room. She smiled slightly at the sight that greeted her. Jack was curled up against Ianto, sound asleep, and the younger man was whispering soothingly to him.

"Hey." Kitty said quietly, setting down the boxes. "How is he?"

"Not too bad." Ianto admitted. "He's been moaning and crying out in his sleep, but he seems to calm down when I talk to him."

"I never thought…I dunno, he seemed to cope so well on the TV…"

"He probably did, "Ianto pointed out, "I think it's just the shock of remembering. When he wanted us to take the Retcon, it was nothing to do with that, it was all about Owen."

"I guess." Kitty watched Jack for a few seconds. "Should we wake him? He might want his pizza."

"No." Ianto gazed down at his lover. "No, don't wake him. I get the feeling he won't be able to sleep so good for a while." He shuddered. "When I think about what he went through…"

"Don't." Kitty advised. "We just need to help him through this."

"Yeah."

"So…any ideas on your wedding yet?"

"Not really."

"We should plan it together!"

Ianto turned to her, amused. "You've already got a plan, haven't you?"

"No! Well, maybe."

He laughed. "Ok, let's hear it!"

Grinning, Kitty reached over to her bag and pulled out about 20 sheets of paper. Ianto almost choked. "Kitty?"

"What?"

"Are you planning on letting me and Jack have any say at all in this?"

Kitty stuck her tongue out at him, smiling.

* * *

Gwen gazed out of the window, taking in the city below her. She almost jumped when she felt a hand on her back.

"You ok, love?" Rhys asked, hugging her. Gwen smiled and leaned into the embrace.

"Yeah, I'm ok."

"No, you're not."

"It's Jack. And Kitty."

"What about her? You found out if she's telling the truth yet?"

"That's the thing! Now Jack says he's remembered and she's telling the truth, but…I don't know. Something doesn't feel right."

"You might be wrong about her, you know."

"Hmm." Gwen said, noncommittally. "She asked if she could meet you."

"Really? Why?"

"Wants to know if you 'look like your actor'!"

Rhys could clearly hear the scoff in her voice. "Bet I'm better looking than him, anyway!"

"Jack and Ianto are getting married, now." Gwen told him, changing the subject.

"What?!"

"Yeah! Apparently Jack proposed through the Rift, then they forgot after the Retcon."

"Oh. Well, fair play to them."

"Yeah. It's nice." Gwen frowned. "There's something not right here though. It's like the pieces don't fit together, like there's something missing."

Rhys sighed and ran his fingers through her hair. "Forget about it, love. You're home now, try and leave Torchwood at work, hey?"

Gwen nodded, smiling, but her thoughts couldn't leave it alone. She was certain there was something not quite right, and she was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

The next morning; Jack, Ianto, Kitty and Martha were sat round the boardroom table. Gwen was late for work. Again.

"Why do I need to tell you this again?" Kitty asked. Jack had just told her to go through everything that had happened leading up to her slipping through, in detail.

"Sorry, Kit. We need to work out how we can send you home."

Kitty sighed and rolled her eyes. Ianto grinned at her. "Fine. I was walking home from work; it was about 7:15 because I'd been working late. Albert needed me to help with the stock taking, he was let down by his usual Saturday girl. Anyway, I was walking home and I suddenly felt like I was being crushed, you know? Like I couldn't breath. And then I blacked out and when I woke up I couldn't get into my flat. Someone saw me and thought I was breaking in, called the police, and that's when you guys showed up."

Jack wound through the story in his head. He was missing something, he felt sure he was missing something…

"You were walking home from work?"

"Yeah."

"The same place you worked before?"

"Again, yes. Could I please go now? I want to plan the wedding."

Martha snorted with laughter. "I guess so. I've actually got some stuff I need to sort out myself, Jack, so was there anything else you needed?"

Suddenly, Jack realised what had been bothering him. He looked up and Kitty so quickly he made her jump. "You were walking home! What way?"

"Huh?"

"What way were you walking home?!"

"I don't know. The way I've always walked! Why?"

"Did you walk through the Roald Dahl Plass?"

Kitty looked shaken by his urgency. "N-no. No, I never walk that way…"

Ianto gasped sharply as he realised Jack's trail of thought. "A couple of feet." He whispered. Jack caught his eye and nodded gravely.

Kitty frowned, desperate to catch up. "A few feet? What? I don't…"

"We worked out that the Rift spans only a couple of feet when it opens in your world."

"Right. So?"

"So," Jack said, looking concerned, "you were no-where near it. So how did it get you?"

**

* * *

**

Reviews are loved! x


	10. Chapter 10

"Kitty? Kitty, how did it get you?"

"I…I don't know."

Ianto frowned slightly. Why had she hesitated? He glanced at Jack to see if the older man had noticed anything, but it looked like he hadn't.

Jack stared at Kitty for a moment, then shook his head. "Probably doesn't matter. Go on, you go plan our wedding party or something."

"You sure?"

Jack grinned. "Yeah. Go on, go plan!"

Kitty glanced over her shoulder as she left, looking puzzled.

"Jack?" Ianto said as soon as the younger woman had gone.

"Hmm?"

"I know when you fake-smile. Something's wrong, what is it?"

Jack looked at him. "Ianto, the only way it could have got her when she wasn't beside the water tower is if the Rift is spreading on her side."

"And that's bad?" Martha asked.

"I'd be very surprised if it was good." Jack told her grimly.

* * *

Kitty hummed to herself as she flicked through a catalogue of wedding decorations. She glanced up when Ianto sat down beside her, peering over her shoulder.

"So…are you going to tell me what's up?" she asked. Ianto looked puzzled.

"Up with what?"

Kitty laughed. "Come on, Yan, I'm not stupid. Jack's not telling me something."

"Well, you're not telling us everything."

"Excuse me?!"

Ianto looked at her. "When Jack asked you how the Rift got you, you hesitated."

"No I didn't."

"Ok, if you don't want to tell me that's fine. But if it's something that could help us…"

"Ianto. Honestly, there's nothing."

Ianto shrugged. "Ok, if you say so." He looked at the page she was looking at and grimaced, "No. No way am I having that as a centrepiece."

"But it's so cute!"

"Well, at you're wedding you can have it then!" he grinned. "God, you are going to be the wedding planner from hell aren't you?"

She shrugged, grinning. "What about guests?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"You know, people who you invite? They come to the wedding and sit in little chairs?"

He gave her an ironic look. "I don't know really. I mean, obviously Jack doesn't have any family anymore, or yet if you want to be technical. I mean, he might want to invite Sarah-Jane…"

"What about you? Your family?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "We don't really get on."

"Oh?"

"My mam sort of…freaked out when I told her I was bisexual."

"So she doesn't know about Jack?"

He shook his head.

"Why don't you tell her? I mean, you are getting married after all."

He smiled bitterly. "I think she's hoping I'll see the error of my ways and settle down with a nice girl. She was so thrilled when I started dating Lisa. I think the idea of me entering a civil partnership might…upset her."

"You'll never know unless you try."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next week passed almost without incident. Which disturbed Jack a lot. It suggested that his theory that the Rift was unravelling somewhere was wrong. Which meant he still had no idea how Kitty had wound up there.

Jack didn't like not knowing what was going on. It made him feel vulnerable.

"Jack?" he looked up as Kitty walked in. "I was just wondering if there was anything I could, you know, _do_. Don't get me wrong, planning the wedding's great, but this is Torchwood for crying out loud! I'm in Torchwood! I have to at least, I dunno, clean up an alien or something!"

He smiled. "Don't let Ianto hear you say that or he'll give you all his cleanup duties." He paused. "Actually, he wouldn't. He loves them too much."

Kitty laughed.  
"You could always help me with this paperwork." Jack said hopefully.

"I'll go find Ianto, see if there's any alien guts to clean up!"

Jack pouted and Kitty grinned at him. "Oh, Kitty?" he said as she left.

"Yeah?"

"Can you get Ianto to come up here? We need to talk wedding dates."

"Sure." She scampered out of the room. Jack smiled. The young woman really did have such _energy _towards things. Although Jack still wasn't entirely sure she'd registered how much danger came with Torchwood. She was too used to seeing it all happen from the comfort of her own sofa; where if someone got hurt one week they were fine the next. He looked down at the report he was trying to write. Only, now he looked at it, the last paragraph he'd written didn't even make sense.

He sighed and laid down his pen, stretching his arms up behind his head.

"Kitty said you wanted me."

He looked up in surprise as Ianto came in. "Yeah! I was thinking we need to discuss a date for the wedding."

"Right."

"Don't sound too enthusiastic will you? I can't take the excitement."

Ianto grinned ironically at him. "It's just; we can't guarantee an invasion free day, can we? Sods law is there'll be no alien activity for weeks before and after the day we pick, and a full blown invasion on our wedding day!"

"But if we don't pick, no-one will know when to turn up and it'll just be you, me, Kitty, Toshiko and Martha. Janet will have to be maid of honour.

Ianto laughed in spite of himself. "Ok…how about the 16th?"

"That soon?" asked Jack in surprise. That would only give them 3 weeks.

"Is that a problem? I mean, it's just a suggestion, we could leave it later…" Ianto babbled.

Jack silenced him with a kiss. "The 16th sounds wonderful. Honestly."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. Besides, the sooner we have it the better. Means Kitty can stop being a trainee bridezilla."

"You know, I can't help but feel sorry for James."

Jack looked at him questioningly. "Huh?"

"I mean, if she's like this for our wedding, what's she going to be like for hers?"

Jack snorted. "Oh my God, that is so true."

**

* * *

**

Sorry, I know this is uber short, but next chapter should be longer because it's going to be…

…**dun dun dun…**

…**The Wedding! I know people want to see it happen :)**

**Look forward to it people! Reviews are adored as per always x**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here it is, the wedding day! And this is the longest chapter I've ever written! So more than makes up for the short one last time I think :)**

**I've never actually been to a wedding or civil partnership, so my knowledge of ceremonies resides completely within the realms of the TV and the internet. So if this is inaccurate or unrealistic, that's why.**

**I did consider waiting until the **_**actual**_** 16****th****, but I decided I couldn't leave you all waiting! Hope you like it!**

_Jack Harkness_

_And_

_Ianto Jones_

_On August 16__th__ at 4 o clock_

_St. David's Hotel_

_R.S.V.P_

* * *

Ianto woke with a warm, fizzy feeling in his stomach. He lay there for a few seconds wondering why he felt so excited, and then he remembered.

Today was the day he was marrying Jack.

He grinned as he got up and made his way to the kitchen. Him. Marrying Jack. If anyone had told him he'd be doing this back when they first started sleeping together he'd have not believed them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack woke with a gnawing sensation in his stomach. It was finally here. His wedding day. He dragged himself out of bed and looked in the mirror, staring at the reflection. Did everyone feel like this before getting married? Jack honestly thought he'd never been so nervous in his entire life. It certainly wasn't like this last time he'd got married.

But he hadn't loved her. Not like he loved Ianto anyway.

Jack smiled, excitement and longing beginning to taint the nerves. He almost couldn't believe they were finally doing this. When he was Ianto's age, he'd always sworn he would never settle down, and he'd stuck to that. Now he was settling down with the man who'd started out as his casual shag.

He had to appreciate the irony.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ianto? You up?"

"In the kitchen!" he called back. Kitty practically bounced into the kitchen and stopped short, staring at him.

"But you're not dressed!"

Ianto regarded her with amusement. "Kitty, I have…" he checked the kitchen clock, "…over 7 hours until the wedding starts. How long do you think it's going to take me to put on my suit? It's not like I need my hair and makeup done."

"Well…"

"Don't even think about putting makeup on me."

"Just a little eyeliner?"

"No."

She pouted. "Spoilsport."

He grinned at her, then turned back to the coffee pot and proceeded to pour out two cups. Kitty watched him, smiling.

"I am so excited about today!" she told him, "this is, like, the biggest event _ever_!" she paused. "It's just a shame I won't be able to tell anyone I was here."

"You could tell James."

She brightened. "Yeah, that's true! Oh God, he is gonna be so jealous! Can I have copies of photos?"

"Yes, you can have copies of photos." Ianto told her with a chuckle.

Then the doorbell rang.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Jack? Jack, you ready?"

He glanced up at the hole in the ceiling which led to his office. "I'm just coming up, Martha!" he yelled. He checked his reflection in the mirror once more. He did look pretty good in a suit, he had to admit.

When he emerged into his office, both Gwen and Martha regarded him with soppy smiles on their faces. He sighed. "What?"

"I can't believe you're getting married!" Gwen exclaimed, turning him round so she could see the back of him. "Never thought I'd see you make a commitment! I remember when I first joined and was told you'd shag anything with a pulse!"

"Ianto has a pulse!" he said laughing. She grinned back.

"I _knew_ you loved him!" Martha told Jack. He looked at her curiously. "I mean, back on the Valiant when you realised you could see him again…"

"What's this?" asked Gwen looking from one to the other. "When were you two on the Valiant together?"

"It's nothing Gwen." Jack told her, shaking his head at Martha who instantly tried to look innocent. "Just leave it."

Gwen scowled slightly. She didn't like being kept out of the loop. "Aren't you dressed a little early, though, Jack?" she pointed out, changing the subject.

He looked down at himself. "Probably. But I just couldn't sit down there doing nothing. Is it normal to feel this nervous?"

"Absolutely." Said Gwen.

"Definitely." Martha told him. "As long as it's 'I'm marrying the love of my life and I'm really excited' type nervous and not 'oh my God what the hell am I doing, biggest mistake of my life' type nervous. If it's that one you're in trouble."

"Definitely the first kind." Jack told her, grinning.

"If you're ready, do you want to make our way to the hotel? You can check everything's set up properly." Martha told him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, Tosh." Ianto said delicately.

"Hi, Ianto." She said, walking past him into the flat. "Are you nearly ready?"

"Um, yeah. Need to, you know, get dressed."

"Right."

"Would you like a coffee?"

Toshiko smiled gratefully at him. "Yeah. That'd be good. Thanks, Ianto."

"You're welcome."

Ianto once again busied himself with the coffee pot. He was glad things were finally getting back to normal with Tosh. Once she'd gotten over the shock of finding out he and Jack knew about Owen's demise she had begun to forgive them for it.

Or at least forget about it.

As he boiled the water, he could hear Kitty and Toshiko talking in the other room.

"So how are you?" Kitty asked.

"Fine."

"Any Rift activity scheduled for today?"

"Nothing come up on the computers."

"Good! After all the effort I've put into today, if any aliens try and ruin it I will tear them apart with my bare hands!"

Ianto grinned when he heard Toshiko laugh. It was a beautiful sound. He'd missed it.

* * *

Many hours later, Ianto found himself waiting outside the hotel they were getting married in. Jack had forbidden him, on pain of death, from entering the building in case he saw him. Ianto thought that was really sweet; who knew Jack would be so traditional? He smiled as he saw a car pull up, then grimaced as his mother got out of it. The conversation he'd had with her was still fresh in his mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_Hello? Jones residence."_

"_Mam? It's Ianto."_

"_Ianto! How are you love?"_

"_I'm fine mam. Um…listen, I've got some news." he gripped the phone a little tighter._

"_Oh yes?"_

_Ianto swallowed nervously. "I'm…I'm getting a civil partnership."_

_There was a pause. "What's that?"_

"_It's like a wedding…"_

"_You're getting married?! Oh, Ianto!"_

"…_only with a same sex partner."_

"…"

"_Mam?"_

"…"

"_Mam, are you ok?"_

"_You're…you're marrying a man?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Why?"_

_Ianto frowned, puzzled. "Well…because I love him."_

"_But…I thought you'd grown out of that?"_

_Ianto felt his insides grow cold. "Grown out of what?"_

"_This whole 'bisexual' thing! When you were with Lisa you were so happy! Why can't you just find a nice girl like your brother?"_

_Ianto gritted his teeth. "Mam, what Daniel does is his own business. I'm in love with Jack, and I'm going to marry Jack."_

"_Jack? As in…oh, Ianto, not your boss?"_

"_How did you know…? Never mind. Yes, as in my boss."_

"_Oh, darling, isn't that a bit stupid? What happens when you break up?"_

"_Who says we're going to break up?!"_

"_Well, it's not a natural relationship is it?"_

_Ianto resisted the urge to slam the phone down. "It's perfectly natural mam. It's love."_

"_Well, I know love is natural sweetheart. But you should want stability!"_

"_Jack can give me that!"_

"_And a family?"_

_Ianto fell silent. True, he knew Jack had been pregnant before. But the subject of kids had never really come up. Besides, Torchwood and small children couldn't mix…could it?_

"_See love? You should take a leaf out of Daniel's book, he's never been happier than he is with Cindy…"_

"_Mam, I didn't ring to argue about my choice of partner. I rang to invite you to the wedding. It's on the 16__th__ at 4 o clock, at St. David's Hotel. If you can't make it, I'll understand."_

_Then he'd slammed the phone down._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Only seemingly she could make it. He let out a small groan as she was followed out of the car by his brother Daniel and his wife Cindy.

Daniel and Cindy were, in his mother's eyes, the perfect couple. He was tall and athletic and had a good job; she was slim and blonde and loved kids and cleaning. She was only a year younger than him.

Ianto had told her Jack was older than him, but he'd neglected to mention how much. He wanted to see how old his mother thought he was. He had to suppress a laugh as a mental image of her face if he told her Jack was over 2000 years older than him popped into his mind.

"Ianto! How are you bro?"

"Hello, Daniel." Ianto said wearily. "Cindy, you look gorgeous."

She giggled. "Well, aren't you sweet?"

"So, Ianto, where's this 'Jack' then?" asked his mother. The way she said his lover's name made it sound like she was talking about some sort of disease.

"He's inside. He won't let me in in case he sees me. Thinks its bad luck."

"So you're the bride then?" asked Daniel, laughing. Ianto smiled thinly.

"Ianto!" He turned around as Kitty raced up to him, grateful for the interruption. "Oh my God, Yan, this is so amazing! I still can't believe you're getting married and I'm here and…hello!" she said brightly, looking around at his family.

"Kitty, this is my brother Daniel and his wife Cindy. And this is my mam."

"You have a brother? Wow! Your family is totally never mentioned back home, other than your dad of course and that he ran a tailor's, I can't believe you have a brother! James is gonna totally freak when I tell him! Do you have any other siblings? Do they have pets or anything? Do you…"

"Kitty, please be quiet." Ianto murmured out of the corner of his mouth, "You're sounding like a stalker."

She grinned sheepishly. "Oh, right. Sorry. Do they know where you work?"

"The tourist office." His mother said before he could open his mouth. "I'm sorry, who are you exactly?"

"Oh! Sorry, I'm Kitty! I'm a friend of Ianto's." she held out her hand and his mother took it.

"Lovely to meet you dear. Is it ok if we go inside?" without waiting for a reply, she led Daniel and Cindy into the foyer.

"Ianto! Hello!" Ianto grinned at the woman who had just appeared behind his family.

"Hello, Sarah-Jane!"

"This is Luke." She told him, indicating the teenage boy by her side.

"Hello." The young boy said formally. Ianto smiled at him. Kitty led them both inside, leaving Ianto standing alone to greet any guests that were yet to arrive.

* * *

Ianto checked his watch nervously. 3:55. He paced in a small circle for a while, trying to calm himself down. He was convinced something was going to go wrong, aliens were going to invade, or the rift would become active, or he'd trip and fall on his face halfway towards Jack…he held a hand out in front of him and realised he was shaking. Did he look alright? He took a last glance in the mirror next to him. He looked fine. _Just relax Ianto. This time in half an hour, you'll be Mr Ianto Harkness! Everything's going to go fine._ He just wished that he could believe himself.

At exactly 4 o clock, the doors opened and Ianto began to make his way towards Jack. Daniel had found it absolutely hilarious that Ianto was the one walking to Jack, said it made him the woman in the relationship, (he had started to go off into a comment about who was the woman in the bedroom, but had been silenced by a hard nudge in the ribs from Cindy. Ianto was glad; he hadn't wanted to spoil his day by accidentally punching his brother in the face.)

He realised his hands were still shaking, and concentrated on Jack instead. The older man smiled at him, and Ianto instantly felt his nerves vanish. Everything would be ok, because Jack was there.

Jack grinned as he reached him, and grabbed hold of his hand. "Everything ok?"

"No Daleks, no Weevils, no Nostravites." They both laughed. "Everything's fine, Jack. Better than fine."

"Then we'd better get on with it." Jack teased, and they turned to face the woman in front of them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you here on this beautiful day." She began, smiling out at the assembled guests. "My name is Pamela Kearns and I'm head registrar here at St. David's Hotel. This is a very special occasion, and on behalf of the happy couple I'd like to thank you all for being able to attend."

Jack turned his head and grinned as his gaze slid over the familiar faces of his friends.

"Today marks Jack and Ianto's decision to make an act of commitment to each other, affirming their love in front of their friends and family. Before we begin I must ask all of you if you know of any lawful reason why these two should not be joined in partnership, to tell me now."

Ianto glanced nervously at his mother, who sniffed but said nothing. Jack squeezed his hand reassuringly, and Ianto grinned at him, before turning back to Pamela, who smiled at him.

"Jack and Ianto have chosen to pledge themselves to each other by the signing of a legally binding contract. A civil partnership should not be entered into lightly. By signing the register, you agree to love, respect and care for each other; for the rest of your lives. The moment has now come for this couple to affirm their commitment to each other. I believe you've written your own vows?"

Ianto nodded, and turned to face his lover. "Jack. We've been through so much together; as enemies, as friends and as lovers. There have been times I doubted we'd get this far, but we have, and I couldn't be happier. You are my partner, my lover and my best friend. I couldn't imagine my life without you." he paused and wiped his eyes, smiling at Jack who was looking tearful himself. "When I first met you, you seemed so lonely. If you will let me, I intend to spend the rest of my life making sure you never feel alone. I will love you for the rest of my life."

Jack let out a small laugh as he wiped tears out of his eyes. "Ianto. From the moment I looked up into your eyes the night we found Myfanwy I knew I wanted to be with you. I have lived for so long, but this is the first time I can say I've truly been in love. We've had our ups and downs; more so than most couples. Actually, probably more so than **any** couple," everyone laughed, and Jack grinned at Ianto, "but we've always made it through stronger than ever. I promise that I will spend the rest of your life making you feel special, making you feel loved. I will remember our love forever. I love you, Ianto, and I will never leave you again."

Ianto nodded at him, smiling, and they turned back to the registrar. "Jack and Ianto have chosen to exchange rings, as an outward sign of the promises that they have made to each other."

Toshiko stepped forwards and offered them the rings with a smile.

The registrar smiled. "Ianto, if you could repeat after me. I give you this ring,"

"I give you this ring,"

"As a token and symbol of my love,"

"As a token and symbol of my love,"

"Of the binding partnership,"

"Of the binding partnership,"

"We have made with each other today."

"We have made with each other today."

Ianto slipped the ring carefully onto Jack's finger, and the older man squeezed his hand lovingly.

"Jack, if you could do the same? I give you this ring,"

"I give you this ring,"

"As a token and symbol of my love,"

"As a token and a symbol of my love,"

"Of the binding partnership,"

"Of the binding partnership,"

"We have made with each other today."

"We have made with each other today."

She smiled at them both. "In that case, I just need you both to sign here…" she indicated a document on the table in front of her, and Jack and Ianto both stepped forwards and signed it. "That's lovely. And could the witnesses step forwards?"

Martha and Gwen both stepped forwards and signed the document underneath Jack and Ianto's signatures.

"And last but not least…" Pamela took the pen from Gwen and signed her own name. "And now, I am pleased to announce you are officially civil partners in the eyes of the law. Congratulations, and I wish you both the best of luck and happiness on your journey together."

Jack turned to Ianto. "We made it!" he said quietly.

"And no alien invasion."

"Makes a nice change." Jack replied, before grabbing Ianto and kissing him deeply.

* * *

"It was beautiful Jack!" Martha told him, giving him a hug. "Absolutely gorgeous."

"Thanks Martha. Although, Kitty sorted out most of the venue I have to admit." He told her with a smile.

Martha glanced over his shoulder and grinned suddenly at someone behind him.

"Jack Harkness getting married. Never thought I'd see the day!"

Jack spun sharply on his heels. "Doctor?! What're you doing here?"

"Martha told me! Didn't think I'd miss this, did you? The ceremony was lovely by the way."

"Thanks!" Jack said grinning, before pulling the Doctor into a hug. "I can't believe you came!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ianto tore his eyes away from his new husband and tried to concentrate on what his mother was saying.

"It's still not too late darling. Are you sure you want to be with him?"

"Quite sure, mam."

"But what he said in his vows! All that stuff about loving you for the rest of **your** life and **remembering** you for the rest of his! Makes him sound like some sort of serial killer, like he knows he's going to outlive you!"

Ianto suppressed a small smile. "That's just Jack, mam. You wouldn't understand."

"Oh, but you could do so much better! What about Kitty? You two seem very close. And she's a lovely young welsh girl. Don't know what you were thinking; American! Honestly!"

Ianto merely smiled at her. He was determined that nothing short of a Dalek massacre was going to ruin his happiness.

"Mrs Jones! I'm so glad you could make it!" Jack exclaimed, casually wrapping his arm around Ianto's waist.

"Yes, well…"

"May I just say you look gorgeous? Where did you get that dress? Is it designer?"

Ianto gritted his teeth, waiting for his mother to make some sort of snippy comment. To his surprise, she blushed slightly and fiddled with her skirt. "Oh, this? It's nothing, just picked it up off the high street."

"You wear it very well. Do you mind if I borrow your son for a few minutes? We're supposed to have the first dance."

"Go right ahead." She told him with a smile.

"How the hell did you do that?!" Ianto asked him reproachfully as they danced slowly to the music.

"What?"

"Turn my mother into a simpering schoolgirl? I swear, there is no-one who doesn't fall for your charms!"

"Oh, I don't know. You didn't for ages."

"Ah, but I did! I just have very good self control!"

"Is that what you call it?" Jack asked with a grin, remembering their first night together. "And do you plan on exerting self control tonight?"

"Depends how you behave!" Ianto teased.

* * *

"They do look sweet, don't they?" Gwen commented as she watched Jack and Ianto dancing, heads bowed together.  
"What's that love?"

She scowled. "Rhys, can you leave the bloody buffet alone for one second? This is a wedding reception!"

"Exactly! It's supposed to be a party! Besides, it's not like we got a proper one after our wedding is it? I need to do enough drinking for two!"

Gwen laughed, and conceded he may have a point. At that moment, Kitty approached them. "Aren't they gorgeous?" she asked the older woman, helping herself to a glass of champagne.

"Oh yes."

"Hi! You must be Rhys?" Kitty said, offering her hand. Rhys shook it, grinning.

"Let me guess. You're Kitty?"

She shot a quick look at Gwen. "Ooh-err, what's she been saying about me?"

"Oh, nothing bad!" Gwen interrupted quickly, causing Rhys to give a snort of laughter which he unsuccessfully tried to disguise as a coughing fit. "You did a really nice job with the reception Kitty, it's smashing!"

"Thanks!" Kitty was well aware Gwen was trying to change the subject, but she wasn't going to push it. She was way to excited to worry about what Gwen might or might not have told her boyfriend.

"Who's the band?" Gwen asked, eyeing the musicians. "They're quite fit, aren't they?" she added with a sly smile.

"Oi!" Rhys protested, but both she and Kitty ignored him.

"Oh, I got them recommended from a couple I've been speaking to online about wedding ideas."

Gwen looked at her. "Bloody hell! Isn't that a little OTT, asking other people about their ceremonies? Did they recommend the hotel as well?"

"No. That was all my idea."

"So why did you pick this place then?" Rhys asked through a mouthful of food. Kitty laughed, and Gwen frowned at him.

"Oh, this is where John Barrowman got married."

"Who?"

"The guy who plays Jack. You know, in the show."

"Right." He thought for a moment. "I am never gonna get used to the idea that someone, somewhere in another universe is watching me on the telly."

"Yeah." Gwen said, studying Kitty out of the corner of her eye. She still didn't trust the younger woman; and she still had a hard time believing her story. She just couldn't get her head round how it could work; had moments from their world seeped through the Rift? Or was it something else entirely? Just thinking about it for too long made her head hurt.

* * *

"I can't believe you're married!" the Doctor said again, once Jack and Ianto had gotten off the dance floor and made their way over to the table he, Martha and Toshiko were sat at. "Good luck with this one." He told Ianto, "I swear I don't know how you put up with him!"

"Oi! Cheeky git." Jack said playfully. The Doctor grinned and took another mouthful of his banana daiquiri. "How many of those have you had?"

He shrugged, gazing at his glass. "A few." He looked over to where Kitty, Gwen and Rhys were standing next to the buffet table. "Who's the girl? New recruit?"

Jack followed his gaze. "Oh, Kitty? Not exactly a new recruit. She came through the Rift."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow in surprise. "She's an alien?"

"No, she's from Earth; just a parallel version. Ianto and I met her when we got sucked through about 6 months ago. We lived with her whilst we were there."

"You got sucked through the Rift?! No-one tells me anything!" he blinked. "Hold on, you _lived _with her? Bit trusting isn't she, two total strangers."

"No, she knew who we were." Ianto told him. The Doctor gazed at him confused. "In Kitty's world, Torchwood is the subject of a TV show. We're all portrayed by actors." Ianto explained.

"Jack has his own TV show?"

"You've got one too, don't worry." Jack teased. "Trust me, Kitty can't have noticed you're here yet or she'd be over here talking away 19 to the dozen about Rose, and Donna, and Daleks, and what you had for breakfast last week…"

"Not big on privacy, eh?"

"She just gets over-excited." Ianto told him with a small laugh.

The Doctor frowned thoughtfully at her. "So you met her in her universe, and then she managed to get here?"

"Well she didn't do it on purpose." Jack sighed. "But I don't know how she got here. I was working on a theory that the Rift was unravelling or something, but other than her being here there's no evidence of any problems. No increase in activity, no random energy spikes, no alien buildings appearing in the middle of the high street…"

Ianto winced involuntarily. That had been one hell of a cleanup operation when it had happened once before.

"…I just can't figure it out."

"And you didn't leave anything there? Or do anything to her?"

"Nope."

"Hmm…"

But any further thought the Doctor may have had on the issue was interrupted by a loud "Oh my _God_!!" from behind him.

"Doctor." Martha said with a grin, "meet Kitty Hadley!"

The Doctor grinned at the young woman, looking more than a little alarmed by her enthusiasm as she began asking questions.

* * *

"You know…" Ianto said, putting his mouth close to Jack's ear. "I think this reception has gone on long enough, don't you?" he teased Jack's ear with his tongue, making the older man shiver.

"God, yes!" Jack said, turning his head and kissing him.

"So, I say we wrap this up and we can begin our honeymoon, Mr Harkness!"

"Mr Harkness-Jones."

Ianto blinked at him. "Really?"

"Why not? Seems only fair we take each other's names." He looked a bit nervous suddenly. "I mean, if that's alright."

"That's perfect."

Jack grinned at him, then stood up. "Ok, people, I think we're all about as drunk as we're gonna get; plus I want to get to the honeymoon suite as soon as possible so I can ravish my gorgeous new husband."

Several people laughed and wolf-whistled, and Ianto blushed bright red; looking at his shoes to ensure he didn't accidentally catch his mother's eye.

"So if people could start making their way home, that'd be great!" Jack finished with a grin. He looked around at everyone, and his smile faded slightly. "But before we all leave, I want to say a few words. This has been one of the best days of my entire life, and those people who know me best know what a big thing that is for me. But not everyone I'd like to have been here could be. I'd like you all to raise your glasses and remember those people who are no longer with us." He raised his glass, and those people who still had a drink in front of them followed suit. "To absent friends. To Owen Harper."

"To Owen." everyone muttered. Jack looked down at Toshiko, who had tears shining in her eyes. But she was smiling at him.

"Thank you, Jack. He'd have loved to have been here, I know he would."

There was a slow flurry as people began to collect their belongings and make their way to the exit; a lot of them supporting drunken friends.

"It was lovely Jack!" Sarah Jane told him, giving him a hug.

"Thank you. Hey, I'm glad you could make it!"

"Oh, I left Mr. Smith in charge of everything for a while. If Torchwood can take the afternoon off from alien hunting, I think I can!"

"Very true. It was good to see you again, Sarah. Definitely in nicer circumstances than last time."

"It was nice to see you too, Jack. And I'm glad to see you don't have any guns on you at your own wedding!"

Jack winked at her. "You've never seen my compact laser deluxe have you?"

"I don't think I want to know!"

"Probably wise." Ianto told her appearing at Jack's elbow. He bit his lip slightly as he saw his mother and brother approaching.

"Ianto, sweetheart, we'll be heading off now."

"Yeah. Bye, mam. Daniel."

"Mrs Jones, it was a pleasure." Jack said, kissing her hand.

"Yes, well…" she blushed slightly, "you make sure you take care of my Ianto!"

"I intend to. He's a very special person."

"Yes, he is." She turned to Ianto. "I'm disappointed you didn't find yourself a nice girl, Ianto." She paused and gave a disapproving sniff, "But you could do a lot worse. He's a real sweetheart."

"Mam!" Ianto protested in a strangled voice.

Jack laughed. "You have wonderful taste Mrs Jones."

"Call me Charlotte dear."

"Charlotte. Thank you so much for coming."

As Ianto watched her lead his brother and Cindy back towards the car, he felt astonished. "Seriously, how did you do that? My mother has always been so against me dating men, 5 minutes with you and she's about ready to support us at gay pride!"

"What can I say? I'm a natural at meeting the parents."

By this point the only people left were the Torchwood team, plus Kitty and Rhys.

"Ok people, listen up!" Jack called. They all turned to look at him. "Ianto and I are now officially on our honeymoon. We'll only be gone for a few days, but in that time I expect you all to hold the fort. Understand?"

"Absolutely." Toshiko told him.

"Seriously, anyone calls us back for anything short of the world ending will feel my wrath."

"What do we do about…?" Gwen asked, gesturing at Kitty. The younger woman frowned, put out by Gwen's treating her like she wasn't even there.

"Oh." Jack considered her for a few moments. "Kitty, you are officially in charge of Ianto's jobs. Filing and cleaning only!"

"Ok!"

Ianto honestly thought he had never seen anyone so excited at the prospect of cleaning up and paperwork. Jack beckoned Martha over.

"Don't let her do anything dangerous, ok? That means no feeding Myfanwy or Janet, and **don't** let her have a gun!"

"Ok Jack." She winked, "You have fun! We'll see you when you get back! Now get out of here!"

"Yes m'am!" Jack said with a mock salute and, grabbing Ianto's hand, led him out of the hall.

* * *

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* * *

You are cordially invited to celebrate the marriage of


	12. Chapter 12

Kitty beamed around the empty Hub. It was her first official day as a member of the Torchwood team. She couldn't believe it; this was probably the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her!

She looked round then the alarm sounded signalling someone's entrance. It was Gwen and Toshiko. Both women froze comically when they saw her, and Kitty wondered if they'd forgotten she'd be there.

"Coffee guys?" Kitty asked. "It won't be as good as Ianto's I'm afraid, but I'm not bad."

"Uh…yeah. Thanks Kitty." Toshiko said. Gwen nodded.

"That'd be nice. Thank you."

Kitty smiled and left to make the coffee. Gwen turned to Toshiko.

"What d'you make of her?"

"Excuse me?"

"Kitty. Do you think we can trust her?"

Toshiko frowned slightly. "Jack and Ianto say we can trust her."

"But do **you** think we can?"

Toshiko looked at her. "I'm not sure." She admitted. "I mean, she seems nice enough but she's always so…"

"Cheerful and excited?"

"Exactly. I mean, it's not normal, is it? Surely she'd be exhausted?"

Gwen shrugged. "I dunno. I guess…"

The alarm sounded and Martha walked in. "What're you two up to, looking like guilty schoolgirls?" she teased. Gwen looked round at the kitchen to make sure they weren't being overheard. At that moment Kitty walked out of it towards them.

"Nothing." She told Martha.

* * *

About 2 hours later, Gwen stood at the doorway of Jack's office, watching everyone work below her. To be honest, there wasn't much to do. Te Rift hadn't done anything all day, and there had been no alien sightings in ages. There had been a couple of false alarms, but nothing Tosh hadn't been able to sort out from the comfort of her computer terminal.

Gwen's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Kitty going around collecting cups. She couldn't believe it had only been 2 hours since the day had begun; they'd already had to stop her trying to feed Janet. Gwen had a sneaking suspicion that she would probably want to kill her by the end of the day. She turned to go into the office, but at that moment Martha called her over to come help with a Weevil sighting. Gwen was that bored she almost wept with relief at an excuse to get out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They returned an hour later with an unconscious Weevil in tow, which they dragged down to the cells.

"So, how does it feel being back in command?" Martha asked with a grin.

Gwen smiled. "Honestly, it feels no different to not being in command. I think Jack might delegate a lot of his paperwork without telling us, because I swear I'm doing the same amount I always do!"

Martha laughed. "You know, it really wouldn't surprise me!"

"How do you think Jack and Ianto are doing?"

"I'm sure they're having plenty of fun. Knowing Jack, they probably haven't even seen outside their bedroom yet!" Martha said. She shot Gwen a look and giggled. "Plus I gave them a full UNIT uniform for their wedding present."

Gwen laughed. "You didn't?!"

"Yeah!"

"Oh my God!"

Gwen was still smiling to herself about that as she made her way up the stairs to Jack's office once more.

She pushed the door open and froze. Kitty was guiltily shoving a file back into Jack's drawer. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Nothing. I was just…tidying up."

"So you went through his stuff?!"

"I was only having a look! It didn't hurt anyone!"

"Get out! We'll see what Jack has to say about this when he gets back!"

"Gwen, I was just…"

"Out. Now!"

Kitty fled out of the room. Gwen instantly opened the drawer to see what the young woman had been looking at. It really wasn't anything important. Just dates and charts about Rift activity. _Maybe I over-reacted_. Gwen thought. Although, to be honest it didn't really matter what she'd been looking at; the matter was she shouldn't have been doing it. Gwen sat down at the desk and pulled another stack of files towards her which all needed signing. And this was even before she got started on her own stuff; she still had a report on flying saucer sightings and how they'd dealt with it to compile. She sighed, picking up her pen. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Gwen rubbed her eyes sleepily. She looked longingly at the clock. _Almost done_, she thought happily as she looked back down at the report. she was finding it harder to write the longer she tried; because her thoughts kept drifting to Rhys, and dinner, and being able to sleep in her big, warm, comfortable bed…maybe the report could wait until morning?

"No!" she admonished herself out loud. "Gwen Williams you will get this work done now!" she sighed. "Not to mention the fact there'll probably be more to do tomorrow." If she was honest, the lack of activity had surprised her. It was as if all alien life had made a pact not to interrupt them whilst Jack was away. Even the Weevils weren't doing anything. They'd only had that one the entire day.

She stuck her head back down with a sigh, and continued writing.

"Gwen? Can…can I talk to you?"

Gwen looked up from her paperwork at Martha. The younger woman looked nervous and on edge. "Martha? Martha, what is it, what's wrong?"

"I've…I've got the results from Kitty's tests."

Gwen blinked at her, confused. "Tests? What tests?"

"The medical tests Jack asked me to run. You know, she refused anything to do with needles?"

"Oh. Oh!" Gwen said, suddenly remembering what she meant. "But that was ages ago! You've only just got them?"

"Well, no, Jack told me to ignore them because he remembered who she was and that she was human, so I never actually read the results first time round. I was just clearing out some old files and opened them to see if they were needed…"

"Well, we don't really need them anymore, do we? Jack says she's human, they're just normal human results…"

"That's the thing." Martha interrupted, setting a large folder down in front of Gwen. Her hand was shaking slightly. "They're not."

* * *

**Go on, click the review button in the corner! It feels lonely x**


	13. Chapter 13

Gwen's eyes flicked down to the folder, then back up to Martha's face. "What do you mean, 'they're not'?" she asked, confused.

"They're not…human."

Gwen frowned, then picked up the folder and opened it. She flipped through the pages without changing her expression. At last, she spoke. "Do you think this counts as the world ending?" her voice trembled slightly, the only outward sign she gave that she was seriously rattled.

"I don't know."

Gwen glanced at the younger woman. "If we're not gonna get Jack back here, what do you suggest we do?"

Martha considered this for a moment, and then a small smile crept across her face. "There's someone else we can call."

* * *

Martha shoved her hands into the pocket of her jacket in an attempt to protect them from the cold wind which had seemingly sprung up from no-where. She glanced up at the grey sky, thinking longingly of the week before when it had been nice enough to sunbathe in the garden in a bikini.

"Come on, come on!" she muttered, looking around.

"Martha!"

She turned, grinning, and waved at the approaching figure. "Nice of you to show up!"

"I came as soon as you called!" The Doctor said indignantly. Then a huge grin broke out on his face. "Honestly, twice in three days you've called now! I feel almost popular!" he gave her a hug. When he released her, his expression was more serious. "Now, what's this big emergency?"

"It's about that girl you met at the wedding. Kitty."

"Ah yes. Lovely girl, not so sure about the mouth. She could have talked the hind legs off a Liophelt, and they've got 6 of the things. What about her?"

"She's not human."

He looked puzzled. "I thought Jack said she was?"

"He did."

"Oh."

"Look at these." Martha told him, handing over the medical test results. The Doctor took them, and his frown deepened with every turn of the page. But Martha couldn't help noticing a spark of boyish excitement in his eyes. That was one of the things she had loved about the Doctor, his ability to see everything as an adventure.

"I've never seen anything like these…" he said, tracing a finger over one of the X-rays.

"What do you think we should do?"

"Are you sure you need to do anything? She could have been alien when they met her you know. I mean, how likely is she to bring that up? 'Oh, nice to meet you, by the way I'm not really human'? Especially if they know Torchwood catches aliens."

"But there aren't aliens in her universe. Or if there are, they haven't found Earth yet."

"When did she come here?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't know. Gwen said she got a call from her friend Andy at the police station that she'd come in, and when they went down to see; she knew Ianto and Jack."

"So no-one actually saw her arrive?"

"Well, no, but…"

"What do you thinks going on?" he asked her, seemingly abandoning his previous train of thought.

"I don't know. Maybe mind control or something? Make them think they met her through the Rift when they didn't?"

"Maybe…" he didn't sound convinced. "But personally I think it's entirely possible Jack and Ianto met Kitty Hadley in another Universe through the Rift."

"Well then what do you think?"

"It's also entirely possible," the Doctor went on, gazing at her intensely, "that Kitty Hadley…is still there."

* * *

Gwen gaped at them when they arrived back at the Hub and the Doctor told her his suggestion. "So, what, we think this isn't the Kitty that Jack met in the other world?"

"We don't know much of anything right now." The Doctor told her, "But it is a possibility." He frowned through the glass wall at the young woman mopping something up on one of the desks. "I have to say though, she doesn't exactly seem like much of a threat does she?"

"But why would she lie if she wasn't?"

"I caught her going through one of Jack's files earlier." Gwen told them. "At the time I assumed she was looking for information on getting home, because it was one of his data sheets on Rift activity since she got here. But what if it wasn't, what if she just happened to pick that one up because it was on the top of the pile?"

"Advanced guard?" the Doctor suggested.

"Could be."

"I don't know…" he cast another, almost anguished, look at Kitty. "I just don't see it. She seems so…normal."

Martha raised an eyebrow. "Normal?"

He flushed slightly. "As in, not a psychopathic alien killer type person. She's been here…how long? And she's been living with Ianto the entire time, it seems like she would have done something by now if she meant any harm!"

"I thought there was something weird about her from the start." Gwen said. "I mean, something just didn't add up about her story, you know?"

The Doctor glanced at her. "What do you think we should do?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You're in charge, right? So what should we do?"

Gwen could hear something strange in his voice. It was like he was testing her.

"I think we should put her in the cells until we know what we're up against." She said firmly. Something which might have been disappointment flashed in the Doctor's eyes, but it was gone in an instant.

"Alright then. Cells it is."

* * *

"Why am I down here?" Kitty asked as Martha and the Doctor led her down towards the cells. "And why's the Doctor here? Not that I don't think it's amazing." She assured him quickly, "But I didn't think you were sticking around?"

"Oh, I thought I'd come help out. They are two men down after all."

"Right."

"In here." Martha said, holding open the door to the cell. Kitty cast her a curious look, and walked inside.

"What is? I don't understand what…" she broke off and whirled round as the door slammed shut. "Martha?"

"I'm sorry."

"This isn't funny, let me out. Ok, I loved it before, but now I want out."

"We can't do that." Gwen said, appearing from no-where and making the Doctor jump.

"What?"

"We know what's going on." Gwen told her.

Kitty looked completely bemused. "Well, that puts you one up on me then. What is this?"

The Doctor scuffed his feet on the floor uncomfortably. Gwen scowled at him. "We know you're not human."

Kitty let out a short bark of laughter and clapped a hand over her mouth. "W-what?"

"We know you're not human."

"Is this a joke? Some sort of prank or something?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The Doctor said softly.

Kitty shook her head. "Nuh-uh, don't say that do me, don't you dare! That's what you say when someone's dying or in trouble and you can't help. Why am I in trouble?!"

Gwen said nothing, merely walked off and motioned for the other two to follow her.

Martha threw Kitty a sympathetic look as she followed. The Doctor stood for a moment watching her, his face impossible to read.

"Doctor?"

"I really am sorry." He said. Then he followed Gwen and Martha out of the room.

"Ok, we need to go over CCTV footage of when she arrived, see if we can locate her. I'll talk to Andy and see what he thought of her, whether she was suspicious or anything…"

"Right." Martha answered. She wasn't really listening to the older woman; she was watching the footage from the cells; where Kitty was sat huddled in a corner staring out at Janet. She certainly didn't look like someone who'd just been found out. She looked confused, scared, and slightly angry.

"Do you have any idea what I just said?" Gwen asked her.

"Um…"

"Something about bananas?" the Doctor asked sounding vague, like he was thinking about something else entirely.

"How's she doing?" Gwen asked, indicating the screen.

"Seems like what you'd expect from anyone locked in there. She doesn't seem freaked out we've discovered a big secret or anything."

Someone cleared their throat loudly from behind them, causing both women and the Doctor to jump and spin round.

Jack Harkness stood in the doorway with his arms folded. He did not look happy.

"Does someone want to explain to me just exactly what the hell is going on?!"

* * *

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	14. Chapter 14

"Well? I'm waiting for an explanation."

Gwen cleared her throat nervously. "Jack, we…we were going to try and sort it…what're you doing here?"

"A little tip: next time you want to go locking my friends up you might want to let Toshiko in on it so she doesn't call me asking whether I know what the hell's going on!"

Gwen, Martha and the Doctor all turned to look at Toshiko, who had just walked in. she blushed and looked at her shoes.

"Jack, they were only…" the Doctor began, but Jack held up a hand to silence him.

"What they are doing, Doctor, is trying my patience. I've had to leave Ianto at the hotel while I sort all this out and I would very much like to get back to him. So; an explanation, if you don't mind."

"That's not Kitty."

Jack blinked. "Excuse me?!"

"Or, it might be, we don't know. But she's not human." Martha tentatively held out the medical file, and Jack took it from her.

"What's this?" he asked, flicking through.

"The results from those tests you asked me to run on her a few weeks back. I only just got round to looking at them."

"These…these are Kitty's?"

"Afraid so."

"And there's no chance you've made a mistake?"

"None. I'm really sorry, Jack."

Jack nodded slowly, his face completely unreadable. "Bring her to interrogation room 1."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kitty's face brightened slightly when she saw Jack, but she still looked confused. "Where's Ianto?"

"Sit down." Jack's voice was harsh.

"Ok…what the hell's everyone's problem today? Am I missing something here?"

"Who are you?"

"Umm…Kitty?"

"I'm only going to ask this once more. Who are you?"

"Jack, what the fuck? What's going on here?"

"We know you're an alien."

Kitty gaped at him. "I'm really not."

"I don't know what you are, but you're not Kitty. You've been taking advantage of us, and I don't like that."

"Jack, I really don't know what you mean!"

"Don't lie to me!" he shouted suddenly, banging his fist on the table. Kitty jumped.

Jack gazed at her, breathing heavily. A flicker of doubt crossed his mind. He felt so sure this girl was Kitty; the girl who'd taken him in through the Rift, the girl who'd been so ludicrously excited to see them. If he hadn't been presented with solid proof, he'd have said the others had gone mad.

"I'm not lying." She said quietly, tears glistening in her eyes. "I'm really not, I swear. I don't know what they've told you, but I haven't done anything."

"They don't need to tell me anything." Jack flung the medical file towards her in disgust. Kitty picked it up and opened it, her face growing more confused.

"What is this?"

"Your medical file. You may have got out of giving blood, but I bet you didn't realise your physiology was that different to a humans!"

He watched her reaction as she flicked through the pages. Her face had gone deathly white. "What is this?" she asked softly.

"What?"

"This." She gestured at the file. "This isn't mine. It can't be mine. Because I'm human."

Jack made a throttling motion in mid air, then spun on his heel and walked out. "Come with me. Now!" Kitty got up and walked in front of him, nervously. They emerged into the main area and towards the cells once more.

"Jack…"

"Not now, Gwen!"

"Jack, I really think…"

"What?!" he turned to look at her, then his face froze.

"Hello Jack." Ianto said pleasantly, although his eyes flashed with irritation. "Were you planning on telling me you were cutting the honeymoon short to come to work, or was I just supposed to guess?"

"I…thought I'd be done before you woke up." He admitted.

"Ianto!" Kitty broke away from Jack's grip and ran to the younger man, flinging her arms around his neck before letting go and standing behind him like a shield. Ianto gave her a startled look over his shoulder. "They've gone fucking psycho, the lot of them!"

"What?" he turned back to the others. "Jack?"

"Get away from him." Jack ordered, eyes glued on Kitty.

"Jack, tell me what's going on!" Ianto demanded.

"We don't know. But that," he nodded at her, "is not Kitty. It's not even human."

Ianto frowned, turning his head to look deep into Kitty's eyes. She stared back through tears. "Jack, what do you mean? Of course it's Kitty."

"We've got test results, Ianto." Martha told him. "She may look human, but I've never seen anything like those x-rays and things. Neither's the Doctor."

"Let me see."

Jack handed him the file, never taking his eyes off Kitty. Ianto flicked through, his frown becoming more pronounced. "Well there must be a mistake." He said eventually.

"There isn't." Martha said regretfully.

"There has to be." He looked up. "Jack, I'm good with people. More so than you realise. And I don't care what these results show, I am 100 percent convinced that this is the same girl we met through the Rift."

Kitty grinned, flinging her arms around him once more. "I knew you'd believe me!"

"Ianto, the results aren't…"

"I don't know what they mean, Jack. But I know she's the same girl who helped pick my ring. The one who teased you about wearing a wedding dress."

Kitty looked up and locked eyes with Jack.

Then all the lights went out.

"Fuck!" Jack yelled. "Emergency protocol 1! Complete lockdown!"

"On it!" Gwen cried. Jack spun back to Kitty.

"What the hell did you do?!"

"ME?!"

"Yes, you!"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Jack, she's stood right here!" Ianto protested, "How could it have been her?"

"I don't know, but…"

"Hub's locked down!" Gwen yelled over, fingers flying over her keyboard. "And the backup generator should be coming on any time…" the lights came on again, "…now." She finished, nodding.

"Let there be light!" Jack said, before turning back to Kitty and Ianto. "Ianto, get away from her, please babe."

"Don't tell me what to do, Jack. She's not dangerous!"

"Jack…" came Toshiko's voice quietly. Jack ignored her.

"I'm not saying she's dangerous, Yan, but we don't know anything about her!"

"You're judging her! For all you know she could have been alien all along! Would that change who she is?"

"If that was the case, why wouldn't she tell us?"

"Jack!" Toshiko said again, louder.

Gwen looked over and noticed she was looking worried. "Tosh? You ok?"

Jack looked round. "Toshiko?"

She looked up from her computer screen. "Jack, the backup generator never kicked in."

He frowned. "What're you talking about? There's light, isn't there?"

"The power never failed first time round. The lights were just turned off and on again at the fuse."

"Oh." Jack clicked his tongue thoughtfully. "Isn't that a good thing? Apart from the fact we're all locked in now of course…"

"Me, you, Martha, the Doctor, Ianto, Kitty. We're all stood here."

Jack glanced around. "Yeah, so?"

"So who turned off the lights?"

There was a tense silence in which everyone considered this, then several loud clicks as everyone, bar Kitty and the Doctor, pulled out a gun and clicked the safety off. Gwen looked over at Jack and Ianto.

"I don't even wanna know why you two took guns on your honeymoon!"

Jack grinned at her. "What, you never used a gun in fore…"

"Jack!" Ianto said warningly, and Jack shut his mouth and grinned cheekily at him. Then his eyes rested on Kitty and his expression grew sober.

"Jack." Ianto said again warningly, only there was no amusement in his tone now.

"Ooh; well, well, well!" said a voice from above them. Everyone froze. They all recognised that voice. "Looks like I've gate crashed a party!"

Everyone looked up, and Jack raised his eyebrows in shock. "_John_?"

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**Reviews are rewarded with cookies!x**


	15. Chapter 15

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jack demanded.

"Temper, temper." John admonished, waggling a finger patronisingly. Then he smiled, almost seductively. "I'm here because you have something I need."

"And what's that?" Ianto asked sharply.

John raised an eyebrow. "You want to watch the jealousy, eye candy." he told him, his tone mocking. "It's not an attractive habit." he laughed, and he dropped the mocking note. "Don't worry, I'm not here to steal 'your' man. No, what I'm looking for is an object."

"Then I suggest you go look somewhere else."

"Oh, but this is no ordinary object. Would have come through the Rift about…ooh, I don't know…a couple of months back? Maybe more, maybe less. Time travel really makes you lose track of…well…time."

"Oh, that's helpful." Martha said, rolling her eyes. "So what you're telling us is that it came through the Rift sometime _ever_?"

He looked at her. "Ok, you're new." his eyes flicked over to the Doctor. "And so are you." his gaze rested on Kitty. "And you! Jack, where are you finding all these gorgeous people? Can you give me an address?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Who says we've got this 'object'?"

"It came through the Rift."

"See, the thing is John, I'm not going to let you just waltz out of here with something we've collected."

"Oh but I was hoping, seeing as we parted on such _good_ terms last time you'd let me have it. Rather than forcing me to take it."

"You can try. You'd never get out of here with it. This place is more secure than the palace."

"Really?" John smiled wolfishly. "Then how did I manage to get in here?"

Jack opened his mouth, then closed it again. How had John got into the base? The entire team had been here long enough to know not to leave doors open…oh.

He turned to Kitty. "Did you leave anything open? Like a door?"

"Um, in case you haven't noticed I've been in a cell all day? How could I have been outside?"

John raised his head, a riveted expression on his face. "Oh-ho! So, she's not a team member, but a prisoner!"

"She's NOT a prisoner." Ianto said firmly, glaring at the others as if daring them to contradict him. No-one did, they were all too busy focussing on John.

Jack glared. "I don't care how you got in, or why, but leave now before I shoot you."

John shrugged, still grinning. "Fine. Go ahead."

"Ok." Jack pulled the trigger and Gwen let out a little scream. But nothing happened. Jack frowned in confusion at the weapon in his hands and tried again. Still it wouldn't fire.

"Cordolane signal. Nice try though, I didn't think you'd actually try and kill me."

The Doctor looked up sharply. "Cordolane? But…but that's Sontaran technology!"

"Ooh, beauty and brains."

"so you're working for the Sontarans?" Jack asked.

John snorted. "Hardly. Can you imagine what they'd be like as a boss? I'd keep wanting to find coleslaw to put on them."

The Doctor perched on a table next to Martha. "But you are working for someone. Oh, don't look so surprised; I'm brilliant. I noticed you didn't deny you had an employer, just that it was the Sontarans."

John looked a bit disgruntled. "I am working for someone, yes. See, the item you've got belongs to them and they want it back."

"Is it a weapon?" asked Gwen. For the first time, John looked a bit unsure of himself.

"I don't know. Could be a weapon, could be a novelty toaster, could be a card from their mummy. All I know is they're paying me very well to find it."

"Who's paying you?"

"Lovely family, name of Dinison. Part of the Glenuss race in the Camside Galaxy…"

Martha felt the Doctor go very still beside her, which was strange because she hadn't been consciously aware he was moving before. She looked over at him and saw he was watching John and whispering manically to himself under his breath. One hand was pulling at his hair, the way he did when he was close to some sort of breakthrough.

"Doctor?" she asked quietly. He turned his head sharply and raised a hand to his mouth, warning her to be quiet. She nodded to show she understood. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as he stared once again at John. Then his gaze flicked briefly over to Kitty.

"…but what can you do? The amount they're paying me I can cope with a little cannibalism."

"That is disgusting." Ianto said, looking like he was about to be sick. Jack put a hand on his shoulder, wondering if he was remembering that disastrous first outing when they'd found the Village.

"Well, give me what I need and I wont tell you anymore about it."

"We're not going to let you just walk out of here with a potential weapon…"

"You don't know it's a weapon!" John said. "Just let me search the damn archives or I'll...I'll shoot PC perfect over there." he gestured at Gwen.

"You stay the hell away from her!" Jack stuck out an arm and hit John's hand away from Gwen. The other man froze, staring at his hand.

"Oh."

Jack followed his gaze and saw John was staring at his wedding ring. He looked back up at him and saw raw hurt and anguish in the other man's face.

"So…looks like you are the settling down type after all." John said quietly.

"With the right person, yes." Jack locked eyes with Ianto and smiled. John followed his gaze and then looked down at Ianto's left hand.

"I…I see." he smiled sadly. "The right person. And that was never me."

"Never you."

John nodded. "Well, eye candy. Looks like he's yours after all."

"Yes, he is." Ianto smiled.

"Look after him."

Ianto looked at John in surprise. He saw no trace of sarcasm in his face, only a slightly wistful sadness. As though aware of how much his emotions were betraying him, John quickly shook his head and composed his face into the hardened, mocking expression it had worn before. "Like I was saying. You don't know it's a weapon."

"But I know it's a weapon." the Doctor said quietly.

"How?"

He hesitated, one hand messing up his hair again. Jack wondered if it was even a conscious gesture. "How much do you know about the Guyzies?"

Jack shrugged. "Not much. They became extinct millennia's ago."

"Yes, they did. In a war with the Glenuss people."

Jack straightened up slightly. "The people John's working for?"

"Exactly. The Guyzies were a unique race. They were incredibly strong, with a natural ability to fight and kill. Now, every other race in the universe with that sort of power would use it to gain; but the Guyzies didn't. They were peaceful."

"Or weak."

The Doctor glared at John. "Do you mind not interrupting me? Anyway, where was I? Oh yes; peaceful. They never even fought in self defence. And there was one thing in their arsenal they **never **used. A weapon of unbelievable power and destruction. They used to say it could wipe out half the universe. Now, the Glenuss thought this would be a jolly marvellous thing to own so they set about to take it and declared war on the Guyzies."

"So that's what they want? We have this…weapon in the archives?" Jack looked horrified. He had seen some pretty horrible things but the thought of something that could cause that much death in a single blow being down in the Torchwood basement…

The Doctor shook his head. "No, you don't. when war broke out, the Guyzies hid it. They created a time pocket. A small area of space completely out of sync with the rest of the universe. Time doesn't progress in a time pocket, it's just the same second forevermore; and they put the weapon in there and locked it away. Only one Guyzie scientist knew where it was."

"But…the Guyzies all died out you said." Kitty looked confused. "So surely this scientist dude is long dead now? It's gone, we don't have it."

The Doctor nodded. "But he didn't know where it was when he died. Somehow the Glenuss found out who it was guarded the secret of the time pocket and the scientist realised the weapon was no longer safe. So he had the knowledge sucked out of his head."

"Eew." John muttered. "Why didn't he just switch sides? Could've lived then."

"Not everyone is as backstabbing as you." Jack snapped.

"Exactly." the Doctor said with a slight frown. "And if you interrupt me again I'm going to get cross."

"Ooh! Will you punish me?" John asked. The Doctor rolled his eyes and ignored him.

"The Guyzies sucked the information out of his head and sent it into the Rift. By the time the Glenuss realised the Rift went almost throughout the entire universe and it could be anywhere it was too late. They'd killed anyone who might be able to tell them where it was. Legend says that every generation has searched for the information. But if they ever find that time pocket, the Universe is doomed. They could kill billions. Trillions!"

John shrugged. "Not my problem." although Jack thought he looked very regretful.

"John, you don't have to do this."

"I do, Jack." he looked suddenly afraid. "If I don't find it, they'll kill me. And I know it's here, they picked up it's signal. Wherever it's been for the last God knows how many millions of years, right now it's on Earth."

"All the Glenuss ever knew was that it resided in a 'vessel the same as millions around it, which cannot be broken into without destroying the information'. Drove them crazy that did, didn't make any sense to them." the Doctor said.

"But it does to you?"

"Oh, yes." his expression drooped slightly. "Because I've realised what they never considered. That the Guyzies sent the vessel through space _and time_. It hasn't been floating around for millions of years."

"you know what it is." John said, looking hungry. "Tell me!"

"A vessel the same as millions around it which cant be broken into without destroying the information." the Doctor began sadly. "They built it a body."

"A _body_?" Toshiko asked in horror. "You mean it's...human?"

"No, I mean it looks human. It looks human, but it isn't. That sort of technology just isn't seen anymore. I'd guess it came through the Rift about 3 months ago. In fact, I'd guess 3 months, 6 days and about…ooh…7 hours."

Ianto frowned as he thought about this. 3 months, 6 days… his eyes widened and he looked sharply at the Doctor. The look of sympathy in the Time Lord's face told him he hadn't misunderstood. "No."

Jack looked confused. "Ianto?"

"No. No, you're wrong."

"About what?" Jack asked. Everyone ignored him.

"I'm not wrong. I'm sorry." The Doctor stood up and laid a hand lightly on Kitty's shoulder, looking into her confused eyes. "I'm so sorry."

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I cant remember if I've given a time scale for Kitty being there before, so I've just decided she's been there 3 months. If I'm wrong then sorry and I'll change it if you tell me! Reviews are loved!xx


	16. Chapter 16

**Ok, another update for you guys! **

**I'm really sorry, I know I promised a couple of you this would be up yesterday, but in my defence I had to have a BCG which made me freak coz I really hate needles :(**

**Dedicated to HannahRubyx for taking the time to review all my fics the other day! Thanks! (And thanks to everyone else who's reviewed, I haven't forgotten you guys!)**

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Kitty let out a small laugh. "W-what?"

"I'm sorry, Kitty…"

"No, no because this is mad!" she looked around. "you cant seriously think…? I have a life! A family! I'm not a bloody memory!"

"Who're your parents, Kitty?" asked the Doctor gently.

"I…was adopted."

"Why?"

"I was left on the front step of a children's home when I was one."

"Why didn't your mother try and track you down?"

"I don't know…"

"Do you remember her?"

"No! I…" Kitty's eyes filled with tears.

"Doctor!" Ianto said sharply. "This isn't helping."

"Sorry. Sorry." he ran a hand through his hair.

"Doctor." Jack said quietly. Everyone turned to look at him. "How do you know all this? I mean, it's possible you've made some sort of mistake, right?"

The Doctor shook his head slowly. "I thought it was strange when I was first told at the wedding. Travel between parallel worlds is impossible; physically impossible. And yet you did it."

"We didn't exactly do it on purpose." Jack muttered.

"Maybe not, but you still did. You travelled to a parallel world, and then just to make it even more impossible, you came back completely unharmed!" he shook his head. "That shouldn't have happened. Unless…there was already a link between the worlds."

"What do you mean?"

The Doctor sighed. "The Guyzies were a very peaceful people. They were also a very naïve people. It would never have occurred to them that they wouldn't be able to talk the Glennus round. They expected to be able to go and fetch the memory back."

Kitty made a choking sound. "But…but that's sick! I'm alive! You say they were peaceful but they were planning to kill me!"

The Doctor considered her. "I don't think they realised how good they made you."

"Huh?"

"I doubt if they even thought you were capable of thought. After all, a baby just needs to be kept happy. Fed, changed, etc. it's not going to sit down and try to write a play or something."

"They never meant for me to have a life."

"I don't think they did, no."

"Sorry to interrupt." everyone looked round at John, who was staring at Kitty with a slightly hungry look on his face. "But are you telling me I've been sent here to collect Blondie over there?"

"You stay the hell away from her!" Jack said warningly, moving to stand between Kitty and John. Ianto rolled his eyes, but Jack didn't notice.

"Who exactly are you?" the Doctor asked. John grinned, flicking his eyes up and down the Doctor's body.

"Captain John Hart. And who are you?" he held out a hand and the Doctor shook it.

"I'm The Doctor."

"Ooh. An educated man."

The Doctor tried to take his hand back, but John held on. The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh dear lord, he's worse than Jack." he looked over at Jack. "Seriously, who is this guy? I'm noticing a theme with the captains."

"John Hart. We were partners back at the Time Agency."

"In every sense." John put in. the Doctor raised an eyebrow, looking John up and down.

"He's cute. But I gotta say, I don't think much of the coat."

John blinked and let go of the Doctor's hand, seemingly stunned into silence. Jack sniggered, then seemed to remember the danger of this situation.

"I'm not going to let you hurt her."

"Oh, so now John's involved you're suddenly her best friend again?"

"Be quiet Ianto."

"Don't tell me what to fucking do Jack Harkness."

John smiled. "Ooh, trouble in paradise already. You wanna watch it, Eye Candy, he can be such a nag."

"Shut up." Ianto and Jack said simultaneously.

"If they get their hands on her, she'll die." the Doctor said gravely. "When you don't tell them the whereabouts of the weapon, and you cant because you don't consciously know, they will try and extract the information from you. And you wont survive."

Kitty had gone white. "I'm going to die." she said softly to herself.

"No you wont." John said quietly. Jack looked at him as if he'd suddenly announced he was going to join the priesthood and go celibate.

"What, you're going to impose ground rules with the Glennus? Don't think that'll work."

"No." John snapped. He looked at Kitty. "I'm not going to hand her over."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh please, like I believe that. You just told me it wasn't your problem if half the universe got wiped out, now I'm supposed to believe you care if **one **person dies?"

"It's different."

"How?"

"Because…because I wouldn't know them."

"Oh please, says the guy who went to murder rehab!"

"I went again. Finished it properly." John looked away. "Having someone you trust strap a bomb to your wrist and force you to do…things changes your outlook slightly."

"So, what, you're all sweetness and light now?"

Ianto put his arm protectively around Kitty and motioned with his head they should go into the kitchen. She nodded, and the two of them walked away from Jack and John's argument.

"This cant be real." Kitty whispered as soon as they were out of earshot of the others. "this cant be happening."

"Kitty, I'm so sorry."

She smiled weakly. "Don't you start."

He nodded and the two of them lapsed into silence once more. This was very quickly broken when the Doctor appeared in the doorway, followed by Martha.

"Hi, you two."

"You needed to get away too, huh?"

"I think they're about 3 minutes away from dragging us all into the argument. Thought we'd make a swift exit." he looked over at Kitty. "If what John says is true, they know where you are."

"I know."

"There is no-where in the entire universe you can hide."

A tear ran down her face. "I know."

"I can help you."

She looked up. "What? How?"

"I can take you back through the Rift."

Ianto frowned. "Hold on, I thought you said that the Rift 'noticed' her because she had contact with people from our universe. Surely if you send her back it'll just notice her again?"

"Not necessarily." the Doctor said. "Option 1: I can…destroy the link. Seal you off permanently." he hesitated. "Although that would be complicated and dangerous and I'd much rather use Option 2"

"Which is?"

"I can take your memories of this place. Of Jack, of Ianto, of ever having met them. You'll go back to being who you were before any of this happened."

"No." Kitty said simply. There was a beat of silence.

"What?" the Doctor said eventually.

"I said no. I wont be another Donna!"

His face clouded. "What do you mean by that?"

"She begged you not to do it. She knew what was happening, and she didn't care. You had no right to take her memories, and you have no right to take mine. I don't want to go back to being a girl in a dead end job with an obsession with a TV show that bordered on the unhealthy."

"Ok then." Ianto said quickly, noticing the look on The Doctor's face. "What're we going to do next?"

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Not amazingly happy with this, but hopefully it's still good.

**Reviews are loved, and rewarded with hugs from Ianto x**


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